


A Second Chance

by thatonenerdygeek



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Jack's an ass, Light BDSM, Love/Hate, M/M, Mild Blood & Gore, Mild Daddy Kink, Slight Degradation Kink maybe?, There's lots of kinks, as always
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:44:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7406050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonenerdygeek/pseuds/thatonenerdygeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a reason why Rhys kept his cybernetics after taking them out to get rid of Jack. And he was just crazy enough to see what would happen if he put them back in again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Your Toy

**Author's Note:**

> This was written completely on a whim so I'm not entirely sure how often this will be updated. Hopefully often though. Because I have turned into completely Rhack trash lately.

At the time, Rhys didn’t know why he kept his ECHO-Eye. He kept all of his cybernetics, actually. But months later, he still finds himself staring at the pieces, wondering why in the world he didn’t destroy them when he had the chance. Jack’s AI was still trapped inside, there was no possible way to get it out. None that he knew of, at least. So, what the hell was he still doing with them in his pocket? The psychotic son of a bitch tried to kill him with his own hand. Geez, that would have been an embarrassing way to die. ‘Rhys gets killed by his own robotic hand choking the life out of him’.

Even Vaughn asked him about it one day. He couldn’t even give his best damn friend a straight answer. All he could do was stutter before answering with a defeated ‘I don’t know’. But he still looked at them every single day, just wondering if Jack’s AI was still...conscious in there. It may be, just judging by what Jack said moments before he took out his cybernetics. It seemed like it was lonely. Dark, silent and lonely. Not fitting for a man like Handsome Jack at all.

Was he taking pity on the asshole? He better not be taking pity on the asshole.

Good fucking riddance. The bastard manipulated him to the very end. Yeah, they were suuuuuch great partners. Last time Rhys checked, ‘partners’ don’t try to murder the other person to build a fucking robot for themselves and make an army.

Asshole.

Dickhead.

Arrogant, stuck up, selfish, narcissistic...asshole.

Fuck, who was he kidding? He knew why he kept all of that shit. He knew it damn well, he just didn’t want to admit it.

He missed the fucking bastard and wanted a way to see him again if he desperately wanted to.

And well...he was desperate now.

***

It took everything Rhys had not to spill the secret that he was planning on reinstalling his cybernetics, where he was sure Jack was just giddily waiting his return. He had a fucking death wish, apparently. But...hell, maybe that’s what he wanted. What Jack said that day still got to him. All of those people on Helios...the ones who couldn’t get to a pod or the ones who somehow died upon impact on Pandora. All of them...their deaths were Rhys’ fault. He was stupid, he was careless and he shouldn’t have let Jack control him the way he did. Maybe...maybe that’s why he was doing this. Not because he had a complete death wish...but for redemption. Yeah...yeah, that’s it! He was going to prove to Jack once and for all that he wasn’t a man to be fucked with. He would prove that Jack couldn’t control him anymore, no matter how hard he may try. And he’ll make it very clear that if Jack does anything to piss him off too much, all he has to do is take out his cybernetics again and poof! Bye, bye, Jack. Again.

Rhys was able to secretly recruit someone more familiar with shoving cybernetics into people’s faces, which was great. What was even better is he knew they wouldn’t even dare tell Vaughn, Sasha or anyone else about the plan. Maaaaainly because Rhys may or may not have threatened to tell Vaughn about their huge crush on him. Look, if Rhys had to blackmail people to get this done properly then so be it. Unfortunately, it’s probably the most tame ‘bad’ thing he’s done in his life at this point.

“Okay, but are you sure you want to do this? I mean...we all saw what happened up there with Handsome Jack. He practically tried to send everyone out to kill you and...he _did_ try to kill you himself afterwards. And not to sound like I don’t care about you but you know...can’t he control all of our shit too?” The poor girl’s hands were almost shaking from how nervous she was. He felt bad for her to an extent, but he also worried that that shakiness would get in the way of properly installing his cybernetics.

“That’s why we’re in the middle of nowhere.” Rhys gestured around him with large hand movements. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. There were just...rocks and plants everywhere, but everyone else was far away and safe from whatever was going to happen. “There’s a limit to how far he can travel, everyone else is safe and I can have a long...overdue talk with him before I come anywhere near the base. Now, can we just get this over with? We clearly don’t really want anything to do with each other. So, the quicker this gets done, the quicker you can go back to not having to worry about me telling Vaughn about your little crush.”

The girl just glared at him before pointing to the ground. Rhys followed right away and moved to sit in the spot she had pointed to. Now, he was starting to get nervous. Once she removed the cybernetics already implanted and replaced them with his old ones, there was no going back. Jack was going to be pissed. Very, _very_ pissed. There was no doubt in his mind that the asshole wouldn’t waste even a second to let him know that.

Once she started, he felt like all he could do was hold his breath. It was mildly painful, of course. But nothing really compared to him ripping off his robotic arm, so this wasn’t too bad. But once he saw his new cybernetics laying beside him, that’s when he really started to panic. His breathing picked up, getting much harder to control now that all he could think about was how he was probably going to get his ass kicked in just the next couple minutes. Did he really just think that? Boy, his confidence sure went down the drain quick.

“Last chance, Rhys...are you sure you want to do this?” With his old cyber ware in her hands, the girl stood in front of him with an unsure look on her face. In her hands, Jack resided in those little pieces just waiting to be set free again. It was nice the first time when Rhys and Jack didn’t know each other and Jack didn’t really understand the fact that he was dead and just an AI. But now? They went through so much shit together. Like, a lot of shit. So, he can’t even imagine what will happen when she installs those into his system. But he wasn’t going to back out either.

He just gave her a nod for her to continue, not really trusting his voice to speak without sounding completely terrified. And even though she still seemed quite terrified herself, she listened to him and moved back to his side to start installing his ECHO-Eye.

***

That fucking asshole.

Hours. _Hours_ went by after the girl finished installing all of his shit. Did Jack pop up? Nope. There was absolutely no sign that he was even there. But maybe he actually wasn’t? Could...could that even be possible? Could the AI have just...disappeared? All Rhys knew was that there was no way he would go back to the base without being 100% positive that Jack wasn’t there anymore.

“Alright, you asshole!” Rhys screamed out into the air. Frustrated couldn’t even begin to describe how he was feeling at this point. “I know you’re fucking in there. So just....agh! Just come the fuck out already!”

There was a long, almost eerie silence that flooded the air. All Rhys could hear was his own heavy panting. If that wasn’t proof of how frustrated and worked up he was, he didn’t know what was. He didn’t know what he really expected. But he at least thought that Jack would pop up right away. Maybe not in hologram form right off the bat but...a voice? Something. Anything.

“You...you put me back in there. You dumb...prissy...idiotic coward.”

The sound of Jack’s voice sent chills up Rhys’ spine. Regret filled him in an instant, half tempted to rip everything out again already. And he barely got to turn around to look at where the voice was coming from before his robotic hand shot up, curling around his throat in a crushing vice.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

“I...ohohoho, boy, I’m gonna enjoy killing you this time. And I’m gonna take it nice and slow. I’m gonna make sure you feel that very last breath leaving your lungs before you slip into nothingness.” Blue flooded Rhys’ vision as Jack’s holographic form appeared in front of him. Oh, he really was pissed. Jack usually had this...weird maniacal grin on his face but now? He was just pissed. Even with his own hand around his throat - used to control Rhys’ -, his brows were furrowed and his eyes were narrowed in concentration. He was almost...snarling. It was completely animalistic and it terrified Rhys to the core.

But once dark spots started dancing in his eyes, he knew he had to snap out of it and take control like he planned to all along. And it took all of his fucking strength to even try to take control of his arm again. He could see Jack struggling just as hard to make sure he kept control of it.

“I...am not...your fucking toy, Jack.” Rhys strained out as he finally got control of his fingers again and uncurled them from his throat. The rest of his arm followed, using every last bit of his strength to lower it to his side and completely block out Jack’s control of it.

“W-What...” Jack stood there, flabbergasted as his own arm fell. His eyes were wide, mouth agape as he just stared at Rhys’ arm. “No...no, uh uh, not possible. How the fuck did you do that?” He rushed towards Rhys, hands extended as if to try to choke him himself. But of course, they just went right through his body. That made him growl out in annoyance before throwing his hands up in defeat. “Fine. But there are plenty of other ways to kill you, princess.”

“You see, Jack...that’s where you’re wrong. Everything that survived the wreckage from Helios was reset. You’re no longer connected to the system. The only way to connect you again, would be if I did it myself. And with you not being able to control me anymore...well, you’re pretty much screwed, aren’t you?” Rhys couldn’t help but smirk at the man in front of him. Meanwhile, all that was going through his mind was ‘YEAH FUCK YOU JACK YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE I WIN AGAIN BITCH’. But. Y’know, he wasn’t gonna show that.

“And I hope you know,” He continued on, now beginning to slowly circle the glaring hologram. “that if you even try to hurt someone else, especially my friends, I’m ripping out these cybernetics again and I can put you right back where you came from. You lose this time, _Jackie_.” Rhys almost purred out the mocking nickname, his mismatched eyes shining in delight. He fucking won this time. He wasn’t going to be Jack’s bitch anymore. And he was making sure that Jack knew that damn well.

As Rhys turned to make his way back to the base, Jack followed close behind him. No matter how pissed the guy was, ‘silence’ sure wasn’t in his vocabulary.

“Why did you bring me back? Huh, princess?” Rhys refused to answer. There was no way he was going to tell Jack the reason why he brought him back. Mostly because...he still wasn’t entirely sure himself. But Jack was clearly having fun playing the guessing game on his own.

“Old cyber ware fail? Drunken dare? Everyone get tired of you and wanted the king back? Or...ohhh, you crazy bitch. You missed me, didn’t you? You totally did! Oh, I knew you had a thing for me and all but I didn’t know you would still have a thing for me after I tried to kill you, all of your friends and pretty much destroy your whole life and all. Wow, you’re more obsessed than I thought.”

“Shut the _fuck_ up.”

***

Surprisingly, Rhys was able to hide the fact that he switched out his cybernetics. For the time being, at least. Because when he got into the base, everyone was already asleep or busy aside from the guards. And Loader Bot and Gortys, of course. But he was lucky not to run into either of them on the way to his room. And by ‘room’, he meant a bunch of metal that was shaped into a convenient little room. As long as he had a roof over his head and a door of some sort to block everyone else out, it was a room to him.

And despite being worried about Jack doing anything to him or anyone else while he slept, he passed out as soon as he hit his mattress.

Which left Jack to just sit against the metal wall and watch him. After their first confrontation, Rhys hadn’t spoken a word to him. And it pissed Jack off that it frustrated him so much. Why was he letting some stupid kid get to him? He should be standing his ground just as much as Rhys was. There was no fucking way he was gonna become Rhys’ bitch. Nuh uh, no fucking way. He had to figure out some way to establish his own dominance and make damn sure that Rhys knew he wouldn’t play around either.

But he also had to be careful. His time back in that hell-hole of nothingness was more than enough for him to realize that he never wanted to go back again. So, as much as he desperately wanted to figure out a way to torture or murder the crazed idiot, he didn’t want to risk going back into nothing as well.

“You’re insane, kid.” Jack muttered under his breath as he stared at Rhys’ sleeping form. Standing up from his seated position, he walked over to Rhys and stood over him. He lifted one foot and slowly extended it out towards his body. Not surprisingly, it simply went straight through. And from that point up until the morning, all Jack could think about was how it must feel...to have a physical body. To be able to physically touch things or people.

And that’s when he realized...he was gonna make good use of his time in Rhys’ head and back in the world again. He had a goal in mind and he was going to do everything he could to succeed.

He was going to get himself a body.


	2. Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It hadn't even been 24 hours yet and Rhys was already ready to grab the closest sharp object and dig out his cybernetics again. How can one hologram be so annoying?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, it means so much to me that you already like this. This chapter was actually made within 24 hours after posting the first. For me, that's completely unheard of. The power of Rhack!

“Rise and shine, hot shot!”

Jack’s booming, yet distorted voice, made Rhys jolt awake and flail off of his bed with a yell. While he was busy groaning in pain and clutching his side, all he could hear was that asshole’s crazed laughter behind him. Now he was the one wishing Jack was real so he could choke him. Or smack him or whatever. Anything to get some sort of payback. Was Jack always this frustrating before? 

“Oh god, you should’ve seen your face, kid. It was all like - ‘ _aaaargh_ ’! Ah, I forgot how much you crack me up, cupcake. Almost makes me regret trying to kill you. Almost. Not really. Still wanna kill ya.” Once Rhys peeked his head up from the side of the bed, he could see Jack wiping under his eyes with his fingers as if he were wiping away tears while he continued to laugh, floating on his back.

“You. Ow. Are so lucky. Ow. That you’re not real. Ow, pain.” Rhys nearly whined out as he tried to push himself up onto his feet. Jack had a fucked up, twisted sense of humor. He was a complete sadist. Why in the world did Rhys even miss him to begin with? Maybe he needed to check his mental stability at some point.

And then there it was. _There_ it was. Jack’s signature smirk. Looking straight at him with his arms folded behind his head, he wiggled his brows. And that damn mocking tone in his voice. “Awwww, poor wittle Rhysie. Does someone need nurse Jack to patch them up and kiss their boo-boos all better?” There had to be a sharp object somewhere.

“Oh, come on, don’t gimme that look. You put me back in your noggin willingly, don’t tell me you’re regretting it already. You’re gonna hurt-”

“Rhys! Are you okay?” Gortys. Shit. Of course she would be the first one to check on him. 

“Ah, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just...bad dream. Rolled off the bed.” Rhys attempted to brush the whole thing off, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. Meanwhile, Jack rolled his eyes dramatically as he positioned himself on his feet.

“Ohhhhh, okay! Vaughn wanted me to tell you that we still haven’t heard anything from Fiona. But I’m sure she’ll come back soon!” And just like that, his heart sank. Fiona wasn’t his favorite person in the world and he surely wasn’t hers. But they were a team. Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Vaughn, LB and Gortys were a team. And he hated seeing Sasha so down all the time.

“Alright, just...tell him I’ll be there soon and we can talk about what to do. Okay?” 

“Okay, Rhys!” Gortys was as chipper as ever. He watched her roll out of his ‘room’ with a sigh, wishing he had some of her positivity and happiness at the moment.

He had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from yelling again and alerting Gortys. Jack’s face popped up right in front of his own, curiosity written all over his holographic features. “What happened to hat chick?”

“She went into the vault by herself and never came back out.” Rhys replied simply. But then he realized who he was talking to. The one man _obsessed_ with vaults. Handsome fucking Jack. Shit, he fucked up real bad. 

Just as he expected, Jack’s curiosity washed away in an instant and his expression turned dark. Deadly. And even though he knew Jack couldn’t do anything to him, Rhys couldn’t help but back up. It was chilling. That man could go from looking mildly playful to looking like he could tear your body in half with his bare hands. Again...he knew Jack couldn’t possibly do that but boy, if he were alive, Rhys would be in pieces by now.

“You...you opened up the fucking vault...the vault that was nearly impossible to open...and you let that bandit take everything inside?!” Jack’s voice was booming again, which distorted his voice but didn’t make him sound any less threatening. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You let the most perfect opportunity slip through your fingers, you absolute idiot!”

“Jack, will you just shut up? I didn’t-”

“What? You didn’t what? You didn’t think? Because that’s not really surprising.”

“Just let me fucking speak, you-”

“You have nothing else to say to me. I can’t believe you passed up the opportunity to go into a friggin' vault and get all of the spoils.”

“I wanted to rule Hyperion, Jack! Okay? I had other plans in mind that didn’t involve risking my life inside of a fucking vault. Vault hunting isn’t my thing, it’s Fiona’s thing. I wasn’t going to take that away from her when I already had other plans in mind for my life. I was going to work on heading back up there and try to control the complete chaos the planet is in. I was going to _rule_ , Jack. Like...like...” Rhys’ voice lowered to a soft whisper once he realized what he was saying. Defeated, he turned away from the hologram and focused on finding his jacket and shoes.

“Like you did.”

***

Jack was gone for the time being. He sort of...fizzled out after Rhys spilled his plans for Hyperion. He had looked shocked but Rhys couldn’t tell if he was pissed or what. But boy, the silence without Jack around was nice. If only he could bottle up this moment and use it whenever Jack was making him go crazy.

“Hey, Sash.” Rhys offered the woman a wave and a grin, but was only met with a monotone ‘Hey’ before she went back to loading her gun. Fiona being gone really had gotten to her. And he felt bad for her. That whole time when he didn’t know if Vaughn was dead or alive was hell. His best friend could have been dead, he could have been starving to death, he could have been captured by psychos, there were so many possibilities. But the minute he saw that bearded -which was still super weird to see- bastard again, he was overflowing with joy. 

Speaking of...

“Hey, bro! Where were, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no. No. Please tell me I’m seeing things.” Rhys’ face twisted in confusion as Vaughn got up close to him. Like...uncomfortably close. He was staring straight into his ECHO-Eye. And that’s when it hit him. It’s also when it seemed to click for Vaughn as well.

“Rhys, tell me you didn’t.” Vaughn looked around the surrounding area nervously, then ran over to one of the computers to make sure they weren’t hacked into.

Rhys just sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair. “We reset everything, remember? And there’s no way I would risk everyone’s lives and do it myself. He’s just...in my head. Again. But I controlled him, Vaughn, okay? Well...not so much controlled him but controlled myself because y’know how he could take over my arm and stuff...yeah. But he can’t now, that’s what I’m trying to say.”

“Why would you do this? Sure, he may not be able to do much now but who knows what could happen in the future? He could...he could manipulate you and trick you into putting him into the system and he-he-he could kill us all! All of us! Everyone!” Vaughn’s eyes were so wide that they might as well be popping out of his head. Rhys felt almost guilty for making him panic so much. Especially because he still didn’t have a real answer as to why he brought Jack back.

“I...I don’t know, Vaughn. I just did it. But I made sure he couldn’t hurt you guys, okay? He knows that if he even tries, I can just...take these out.” He awkwardly gestured towards his cybernetics before approaching the still freaking out Vaughn. “I wouldn’t have done it if I thought there were any risks. Aside from my growing insanity.”

“Is, uh...is he...here?” His friend continued to glance around nervously, seemingly frozen in place. But thankfully, Jack hadn’t even appeared at the mention of his name. So, it was safe to say the coast was clear for now. And so, he gave Vaughn a quick shake of his head.

“No. Now, come on. We need to figure out a plan to find Fiona.” Rhys gestured both Vaughn and Sasha over to where Loader Bot and Gortys were waiting before heading towards them himself.

From behind him, he could hear Sasha and Vaughn whispering to each other.

“Did Rhys seriously bring Jack back? I mean...I believe him when he says Jack isn’t a threat to us but...still. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, Sash. You think he was forced to do it?”

“I don’t think so...it seems like he did it willingly. And really thought it out too. There has to be something he wants to do with Jack though.”

To be honest...there actually wasn’t. None that he could think of, at least. It’s not like he could help them find Fiona or anything. And aside from finding her, there really wasn’t anything else that needed to be done. Aside from maybe fixing up the base so it felt less...deathtrap-y. But there was no way Jack could help with that either. 

But! That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was coming up with a plan to find Fiona, get her back and then get their Helios base up and running again.

***

That night, Jack still hadn’t turned up at all. Rhys was started to get frustrated again. But why? The silence without Jack around was amazing. At least...it was at first. Then...dunno. It started getting lonely again. Which was weird because whenever Jack was actually around, all Rhys wanted was for him to go the fuck away. He never imagined having Jack around again would be this frustrating.

The meeting to figure out how to get Fiona back was met with complete disappointment. No one could figure out a real plan that could actually work. And it annoyed Rhys to no end. Not as much as Jack annoyed him but still. He just wanted to get her back so everyone could go back to normal. Or...as normal as they could get, at least.

“You’re a real piece of work, kiddo.”

Rhys jumped at the sound of Jack’s voice and frantically looked around his room to see where he was. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen and that was way more than slightly unnerving. “Where...?”

“Boo!” In a split second, the man was sitting in front of him. And uncomfortably close at that. It made Rhys jump again but he didn’t scream like a little girl like he did that morning. Oh, that was embarrassing. He was glad that moment was only between him and Jack. And...Gortys, kind of. But she was too precious to make fun of him for it.

“Sadistic bastard.” He muttered under his breath and placed his palms against the mattress to push himself back towards the wall. But instead of getting further away, Jack seemed to get closer. The bastard was following him, of course he was. And with his back now fully pressed against the wall, there was really nowhere else for him to go. He just had to suck it up and deal with Jack being a fucking creep.

“Why _did_ you bring me back, huh? We both still hate each other’s guts and want to rip each other apart but we both know that ain’t happening. So, why?” Jack stared at him with genuine curiosity, his chin resting against his palm. 

Rhys had figured out the answer to that question earlier that day. One of the survivors was starting to talk shit about Vaughn. And when it came to his best friend, of course he had to step in.

_”You talking shit about my friend?” Rhys had approached the guy with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring down -or up- the much taller man._

_“Yeah. So fucking what? The runt’s a lousy leader.”_

_“You know...I’d be careful what you say, See, with Jack back,” He motioned towards his ECHO-Eye. “He can fuck you up like you wouldn’t believe.”_

Having Jack around...he wasn’t this unsure, hesitant janitor anymore. No...not anymore. Having Jack around...he just felt...

“Power.” Rhys uttered out in response. Confidently, he stared down the other man as Jack’s eyebrows arched in surprise.

“Power? The hell is that supposed ‘ta mean, kid?”

“Power. You...I feel powerful when you’re around. You were a fucking God, Jack. And now I have you inside my head. I feel powerful. Confident. Like...like I can do so much more.”

Now, Jack was staring at him as if he were absolutely crazy. Aaaaand the confidence dwindles back down to nothing. Rhys was starting to feel self conscious again. Was it really that weird? It was better than bringing him back because he missed him. Which he clearly didn’t now that he realized it was all about the power and...wow, that made him sound like such a douchebag.

“You...are a complete douchebag, cupcake. But I love it! You know, I always knew you had it in you. With the whole ‘getting back at Vasquez, stealing money and trying to get his Vault key’ and all. I just knew you were a slut for power.” Rhys flushed at the...insult? Or whatever it was supposed to be. Jack made the word ‘slut’ sound almost like a positive thing. The way he...purred it out like that and...was it hot in the room? It definitely was. Yeah, it was totally hot in the room, yep.

Jack leaned back with his arms folded behind his head and extended his legs outwards before crossing one over the other. Even though his legs went right through Rhys’ body, he could have sworn he felt at least a ghost of a touch. But maybe that was just the exhaustion talking. It was late. And with Jack being around, it completely wore him out by the end of the day.

As Rhys started to take off his shoes and peel off his jacket to get ready to get a decent sleep, Jack spoke up again. “I shouldn’t have used you like that, kiddo.”

With furrowed brows, Rhys glanced towards him but didn’t stop pulling his arm out of the sleeve of his jacket. “Huh?”

“Back on Helios. Y’know with the whole robot murder slave army thing. You had potential to really run the place. You still do. Now, I’m not gonna spend time getting all sentimental and shit but I mean it, alright? We should both be up there controlling Hyperion and kicking ass together. You could follow in my footsteps, kid. I really believe that.” And with that, Jack disappeared again, leaving Rhys just staring at the wall as he let the words sink in.

Did he really mean that? Was that even a good thing? To have the potential to follow in _the_ Handsome Jack’s footsteps? Jack mentioned it before when they were on Helios, how they were partners and they could rule together. But this time...it seemed even more genuine. Maybe it was the tone of his voice, maybe it was because of everything they went through. How...even though Jack tried to kill him and Rhys locked him away, he still thought that Rhys was good enough to lead.

Even as Rhys got into bed, it took him a long time to stop thinking about everything Jack said. Really ruling Hyperion...with Handsome Jack by his side. Jack made him feel powerful and confident. There was no way he could rule Hyperion without him there. 

And that’s when everything started to click together. The mess of puzzle pieces finally came together and Rhys knew exactly why he brought Jack back, though he didn’t realize it at the time.

Rhys wanted to rule Hyperion and having Jack there was the only way he could do it. 

Suddenly...leaving Pandora didn’t seem too bad.


	3. Let's Rule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, taking over Hyperion was all Rhys could think about. But he knew he couldn't do it without the help of one certain 'Jack'ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if this will actually always be updated every day but all I know is that I have five chapters finished and the sixth one being worked on and I can't stop. So, have fun!
> 
> And as a bit of a shameless self-promotion, I do have a Tumblr for all of you who don't know. You'll find me often reblogging a ton of Borderlands and Fallout shit along with some random stuff here and there. And most importantly, some updates about this story and the others I've written so far!
> 
> ~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~

_”So, how’d it feel, kiddo? Those assholes were shaking in their boots when you called ‘em out on their shit.” Jack burst out into laughter at the very recent memory. They were on Helios, as if nothing ever happened all those months ago. And Rhys had his first meeting with some...big corporate assholes. They tried to convince Rhys that he was shit at being the CEO and Helios would be much better off if he stepped down. But Rhys was sure to remind those assholes that when Vasquez was in charge, he saw at least a couple of them running errands for him and being his bitches. Boy, he had never seen so much embarrassment in one room._

_“It felt...so fucking great, Jack.” Rhys settled back into the gold colored chair of Jack’s -no, his- office and leaned forward to prop his elbows up onto the desk. It felt good to have so much power, to bring even the biggest people down like that._

_When he looked up, his mismatched eyes immediately fell on Jack. Jack...he wasn’t a hologram. No, he was real. Living, breathing...human. Or, as human as he could get. He was still practically a God to Rhys. But the point was...he was fucking real. And standing there right in front of the desk, staring down at Rhys with that stupid smirk on his face._

_“I knew you’d like it.” His voice sounded teasing. And in a blink of an eye, he was gone from his vision. Startled, Rhys started to turn around in his chair, but it was held down by the arm rests by large, masculine hands._

_Rhys swallowed thickly, not even daring to turn his head and see if Jack really was back there. He knew he was there. The man’s breath felt uncomfortably hot against his ear as he purred._

_“Such a slut, Rhysie. Such a slut for power.”_

_“And for me.”_

Rhys shot up in bed with a strangled yell, automatically feeling a sense of déjà vu. But this time, he didn’t fall off the side and it wasn’t Jack that woke him up. Well...it was...sort of. Dream Jack. Dream Jack...telling him...he was...

“Holy shit.” Rhys whispered in disbelief as he buried his head in his hands. Yeah, no one can really control their dreams but weren’t dreams supposed to have hidden meanings in them? No, no, no. This falls into a category of dreams where skags take over the universe and talk. It’s just not possible, it’s just a silly dream with no meaning whatsoever. None. Nada. Zip.

But aside from the, ah...name...what did stand out was that Jack was human. Why was that? It may have been nothing but it still. The thought of Jack being human again was both intriguing and terrifying. If he were real, there would be nothing stopping him from killing Rhys like he knows he wants to. He could easily choke the life out of him or rip him to shreds. So yeah, human Jack didn’t really sound like the best idea at the moment.

“Hey, slut.”

Rhys felt like his heart was going to rip right out of his chest. His head was going crazy. _Oh my god, does he know what I dreamed about? I can’t do this, I need to take the cyber ware out, I can’t face him like this._ But he still lifted his head from his hands, replying with a meek, “W-What did you say?”

Jack just stared at him for a second, his head cocking to the side before repeating himself. It was a lot slower this time, as if making sure Rhys completely understood. “I saiiiiiid, hey...slick. Why do you look so freaked out all of a sudden? I mean, I know being in my presence is overwhelming but really, kiddo, I thought you would have gotten used to it by now.”

Slick...he...he just called him slick...that’s it. Rhys is going crazy. That’s the most logical explanation. He’s going completely crazy. Honestly, he would have expected to go crazy a lot sooner but he wasn’t complaining.

“Yo, Rhysie. You there, buddy? You know, you could give me control of your arm again and I can smack the shit out of you for ya.” Jack wiggled his fingers and slowly approached him. The mention of him taking over again quickly snapped Rhys out of whatever weird headspace he was in.

“Whoa, whoa, no, no, no, no, no.” Rhys shook his hands violently and scrambled off of his bed to press back against the wall. “Don’t you dare, Jack. Don’t even try it.”

To his surprise, Jack stopped almost as soon as Rhys got up. His eyebrows shot up into the air and just stared in one spot. It wasn’t until Rhys followed his gaze that he figured out what was going on. “Shit! Jack, go the fuck away and let me get dressed.” Hurried hands reached out to grab the closest object he could grab, this being his pillow, and used it to shield the outline against the front of his pants. His cheeks were burning from complete and utter embarrassment. And some anger but he had no fucking idea who or what it was even directed to.

“Better take care of that, cupcake. I, however, make no promises that I will not make fun of you about it in the future. Toodles!” Then Jack was gone. The bastard really knew how to push his buttons, didn’t he? But at least he kept him on his toes. He was almost always on high alert around Jack, never knowing what the AI would say or do next.

Hesitantly removing the pillow from his crotch, he awkwardly glanced down with a shake of his head. _Come on, Rhys. Think of skags. Dead skags. Guts hanging out and...blood...and...all the...guts...._ Rhys was pretty sure he just threw up in his mouth a little. But he didn’t have time to care about that. He needed to get ready to go.

He had a long day ahead of him and he wasn’t going to let Jack mess up his plans.

***

“Sooooooo, what’re we doin’ here, kid?”

That was.

The _fifth_ time Jack asked him in the last half hour. Though they were all phrased differently, the question still remained the same.

And so did the answer.

“Shut up and stop asking me.” Rhys was finally starting to regret his decision to come here. They weren’t too far from Scooter’s garage but there was still time to turn back and forget all of his plans. No, no, he couldn’t drop all of his plans just because Jack was being an asshole. Because the fact of the matter was, Jack was always going to be an asshole. So, he might as well get something out of this whole situation.

“You have a plan swirling around inside your head, pumpkin. I can see it. Well, not really. That would be fun though, to be in your head like that and hear all of your secret little thoughts. I bet they’re all like, ‘Jack is so cooool’ or ‘I wish I could be a god like Jack’. Am I right? I’m totally right, aren’t I, Rhysie?” Jack was floating around him now, absentmindedly circling him while he continued on. “You know, I took a quick look at your office back on Helios when I was trying to find you so I could murder the shit out of ya. Most of those posters definitely weren’t Hyperion issued but hey, whatever makes you feel better about your obsession for me, kiddo.”

“One, not obsessed. Two, I’m never letting you in my head like that. And three, quit it with the nicknames!” Rhys yelled the last part out and stopped in his tracks. But Jack continued to float around him with that annoying smirk on his face.

“You’re cute when you’re mad, pumpkin.” A groan of frustration followed after the comment and Rhys continued on forward, one hand lifting to pinch the bridge of his nose. The asshole was giving him a headache. He was being even more annoying today than he usually was. Today of all days. But Rhys was damn sure he was gonna start sucking up to him once he found out what they would be doing.

“Well, whaddya know? R...Rhett, right? No, no, don’t tell me...” Rhys was surprised to see Janey fixing up one of the walls of Scooter’s garage. There was a huge hole in it that made him guess that it could have only been a test run gone wrong.

“Alright, you’ve lost me. What in the _hell_ are we doing here?” Jack leaned in close to whisper at Rhys, who tried desperately to ignore him for the moment.

“Rhys. Look-”

“Oh yeah, I knew that. What’re ya here for, Rhys?”

“You know how you built us the rocket to bring us to Helios?”

“Uh...yeah?”

“I need you to build another one. Just for me. Straight to Elpis.”

“Excuse me?!”

Rhys nearly flinched at Jack’s voice, distorted as he yelled straight in his ear. But all he could do was focus on Janey. There was no way he would fuck this up, especially by doing something as simple as making Janey think he was totally insane. Well...y’know...he may have been a little insane but that wasn’t the point. Thankfully, all she did was grin and grab his arm to pull him into the shop. “You’re in luck! I just so happen to have the parts to make a pretty small rocket to bring you up there. And the experience should be less...traumatic. As long as you give me enough time to work on it.”

“You have all the time in the world, Janey. And, uh...I’ll figure out a way to pay you, okay?”

“Don’t worry about it, really. You guys brought Athena and I back together, think of it as a thank you gift.”

Rhys grinned from ear to ear. Meanwhile, Jack just continued to stare at the two of them in shock.

_What the hell was this kid planning to do?_

***

Throughout the whole trip back to the base, Jack was nowhere to be seen. Rhys had thought the asshole would be at least a little happy to hear they would be going back to Elpis. But soon after he and Janey had worked out the details of the rocket, he had just...disappeared again. It was starting to get annoying, the constant disappearing and reappearing without a word. Had he pissed Jack off somehow? Heh...Jack-off.

Sometimes Rhys questioned his maturity level.

Janey had said that it would take a week or two to get everything working and make sure nothing would go wrong like it did last time. So, Rhys decided to spend that time looking into getting Fiona back and trying to figure out how to break the news to everyone else. Vaughn was gonna take it the hardest. But this was something Rhys needed to do. Hyperion was without a real leader, with Jack gone and Vasquez now too. He needed to at least try to take over, rebuild Helios somehow and hopefully control all of the chaos.

With a sigh, Rhys flopped back onto his bed and stared up at the slanted pieces of metal that made up his ‘roof’. He didn’t know how he was gonna do everything. But that’s what the next week or two would be for. Figuring out what the fuck to do.

“Okay, so, what’s the game plan here, kiddo?” Rhys scrambled up into a seated position, wide, surprised eyes landing on Jack’s AI in front of him. For the time being, he fought back the urge to yell at him. No, he needed Jack on his good side for now.

“There...isn’t much of one? I mean, no, I’ll figure it out and everything and it’ll be a really cool, great plan but right now but...uh...” Maybe it was best that Rhys shut his mouth now before he sounded even more stupid.

“Look here then, dollface. There’s no way you’re going to take over Hyperion, because I know that’s what you want to do, without my help. And by ‘my help’, I mean ‘my human body help’. You see, no one is gonna believe you when you say you have Handsome friggin’ Jack in your head, kid. I may be there rolling my eyes at them but they can’t see me and yeaaaah, there’s no way they’re gonna let you put me into any of their systems.” As much as he loathed the man, Jack had a point. He didn’t know how much everyone on Elpis heard of what happened on Helios. They might not even know that Jack’s AI was a real thing.

“So...what are you saying we should do then? I’m not going to be your personal meat suit!” And Rhys was going to make that _very_ clear. There was no way he would let Jack control him like that. Never again.

Jack just rolled his eyes and groaned at him. “Come ooooon, Rhysie. There’s no way you don’t know.” Rhys just blinked at him. “Wow, I’m kind of glad you’re less obsessed than I thought. Look, ever wonder why you guys didn’t have some big, fantastic funeral for me when I died? Huh? Well, maybe that’s because they didn’t have the body to put in a damn coffin.”

Rhys just continued to stare at him, now starting to question Jack’s sanity rather than his own for once. Well...Jack pretty much as insane as he could possibly be so there wasn’t much to question anyway. But this was the first time he was talking about something that made...absolutely no sense to him. Yeah, there wasn’t a funeral when Jack actually died. Rhys, Vaughn and Yvette put on their own little ceremony but Jack didn’t need to know about that.

“Connect the dots here, dum-dum! No body, no funeral. Those bandits didn’t claim my body either. And all of these facts started to make me wonder. Where the fuck was I? So, in the short amount of time that I couldn’t find your stupid little ass, I did a little bit of research through the database, some personal emails and all that jazz. And guess who’s devilishly handsome body has been kept frozen by some creepy scientist all this time? Yep, that’s right, kid. Mine. So, all we need to do is get to the psycho once we get into Elpis and force him to put me back into my body. Then boom! The king can rule his kingdom again with his less handsome servant by his side. It’ll be friggin’ great! The looks on everyone’s faces when they realize I’m back!” Jack started to cackle while Rhys just stared with his mouth agape.

How the hell did he not know or even suspect that Jack’s body could be...well, out there somewhere? Even he thought he was more obsessed than that. Wait. No. He’s not obsessed. He’s not fucking obsessed.

“How do I know you won’t kill me as soon as you get back into your body?”

“Rhysie, I’m hurt you would think I would ever do that to you.”

Rhys merely arched an eyebrow at him.

“Alright, yeah, I would. But only if you really deserved to be murdered, alright? I meant what I said last night, we’ll rule together. I mean, I’ll still be the king and all but I’ll make sure you get the recognition you deserve too. You killed a shit load of people, you deserve to be on top. Well, the second to the top. But that’s a hell of a lot better than being Vasquez’s bitch, kid.”

After everything that happened, completely trusting Jack was the last thing Rhys could ever do. But...he did sound genuine. Sure, he wouldn’t be as big and powerful as Jack but being able to lead Hyperion with him sounded just as amazing. Leading Hyperion with Handsome fucking Jack...alright, maybe he was still a bit of a fanboy. But still not obsessed.

“What do ya say, kiddo? Wanna take over Hyperion with the one and only Handsome Jack? I’ll make sure you get to feel some of that power you crave. You’ll have those Hyperion bastards begging on their knees to stay alive.” There was a flash of an image of Rhys on his knees in front of Jack that popped into his head. Rhys forced back a disgusted gag and tried to push the image as far back into his head as he could manage so he could lock it up and never see it again. Something was seriously wrong with him.

“Y-Yeah. I mean...fine. Just...don’t make me regret this, Jack. We need each other to get to the top again, if one fucks up, the other one pays for it too.” Rhys was serious now. There was no way he would let Jack’s asshole-ness fuck up his only chance at living his dream.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can trust me, cupcake. Don’t worry about it.” Jack just dismissed his concerns and started to float around the room in boredom. Rhys took that as a chance to hastily peel off the multiple layers of clothing he had on over his torso. His jacket, vest and shirt underneath. As the days went on, it grew increasingly hot on Pandora. Being in a room surrounded by metal didn’t really help either. Especially when there was only a small little window -which was really just a rectangle cut out from the metal- letting air in from the outside.

Once the clothing was off, he merely tossed them over to the end of the bed before sprawling out on the mattress and burying his face into his pillow. It would be nice to have one stress free day off...pfft, that would never happen.

***

Rhys had some pretty interesting tattoos. Jack rarely ever got to see the ones on his chest and all he could think about was how a pale, lanky, cowardly son of a bitch like Rhys even had the guts to get them.

Once Jack was sure the kid was fast asleep, he let out an almost sinister chuckle and began to walk around the room. His eyes were glued to his blue, holographic hands with a grin.

“Oh, Rhysie...I’m gonna savor the moment my hands are finally around that pretty little throat of yours.”


	4. Elpis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys (and Jack) set off for Elpis to find the scientist with Jack's body. Things...don't exactly go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the love for this story is absolutely overwhelming. I've said this before but this was made completely on a whim. I had a little idea in my head and just started writing. Then, it turned into this amazing thing. Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy <3

The weeks that followed were torture. All Rhys could ever think about was how to tell Vaughn and the others about him leaving. It’s not like he could make any promises to make them feel better. He didn’t know when he would come back afterwards, he didn’t know if he would be able to keep them safe, he didn’t even know if he could keep himself safe up there. He didn’t know anything. Even though there was a lot he planned out, there weren’t any guarantees. He couldn’t guarantee that Jack wouldn’t kill him the minute he gets into his body. He couldn’t guarantee that the crazy scientist Jack was talking about would actually give up Jack’s body. There were so many risks, nothing he was doing was safe but he just had to. He had to get in control of Hyperion.

And he needed to tell everyone all of that now, with Janey saying that the rocket was done and waiting for him. He was leaving tonight and the only thing he needed to do was just...tell them.

“Guys, can you come over here? There’s something I need to talk about with you all.” He gestured towards himself to catch the attention of his friends in the room. It was a nostalgic feeling, really. This was the same room where they all had a meeting on how to open up the vault without getting crushed to death.

“What is it, Rhys?” Gortys was chipper as always and parked herself right in front of his feet. It made his heart ache. Over time, he started to really grow fond of the little robot, especially after she and LB...got together? Sort of? It was a weird relationship that he didn’t really know how to explain.

Before he made the big reveal, he glanced around to make sure Jack wasn’t anywhere to be found. As the weeks went on, they had grown a bit closer, talking about some more personal things when Jack wasn’t annoying the shit out of him. But he made it clear he didn’t want Jack there when he told his friends what they were doing. He didn’t go into detail as to why though. It was because he just knew there was a huge chance of him breaking down and looking pathetic when he told them. And he didn’t want Jack to see him that weak.

“What’s up, bro?” Vaughn approached his side and Rhys immediately laid his robotic hand over his shoulder. All he could do was give him an apologetic smile before he finally spilled everything out.

“I’m...well, Jack...and I...we’re going to Elpis. I kind of...went behind your guys’ back and went to see Janey a couple weeks ago. She built us a rocket to get up there without...y’know, needing a mechanic on board like last time. I’m not running away from all of this. I just...Hyperion has to be in chaos right now with what happened to Helios. Even more chaos than it already was in before. Jack and I are gonna find a way to get to the top so we can put things back in order. And before you say it, yeah, I don’t really trust him either. But there’s no way I can even try to do it without him helping me. They know him, they fear him, I’m just...a janitor in their eyes. But look, in a perfect world, we’re gonna rule Hyperion and the first thing I’m gonna do is try to get Fiona back. She probably needs you guys as much as you need her.” Damnit, he was already starting to cry. Seeing the heartbroken look on Vaughn’s face just killed him.

“Rhys...you...you can’t do that. How do you know Jack won’t find a way to kill you? You’re...y-you’re not leaving us for good, are you?” There was just pure fear in Vaughn’s eyes. Rhys sucked in a deep breath and just shook his head with a sad smile.

“I don’t know, I can’t promise anything and everything I’m doing is risky as hell. But you know what? I’d rather die trying to save the planet from going to shit than die not doing anything to help it.” He took another breath and wiped at his eyes with his free hand. Why did he have to be so damn emotional? He’d love to be like Jack right now and just not give a rat’s ass. But no. He cared way too much about his friends. They weren’t even his friends...they were his family.

“Sash.” He dropped his hand from Vaughn’s shoulder and turned to the woman staring at him in disbelief. “We really hated each other at first, didn’t we? But we got past that and...you’re pretty fuckin’ cool. If I ever come back down here, I’m gonna bring you the most badass fucking gun I can find on Elpis. And that’s a promise. Okay?” With the promise, Sasha was able to smile just a little bit and nod her head.

Then, he turned to Loader Bot and Gortys. Gortys, the poor sweetheart, was staring up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen on a robot. He kneeled down to be closer to her level and offered a reassuring nod. “It’ll be okay, Gortys. You’ve got everyone here to keep you safe. Loader Bot too. You two crazy kids take care of each other, okay?” Rhys heard his voice cracking but he was feeling far too upset to care. This was so much harder than he thought it would be.

And then...there was Vaughn. The minute Rhys turned to face him, he was pulled into a bone crushing hug. Vaughn was still ripped as fuck, right. “V-Vaughn...pain. In ribs. Can’t breathe.” Thankfully, he took the hint and let go, allowing Rhys to gasp for breath and clutch at his chest with a breathless laugh. “You’re too strong for your own good, bro.”

“It has its perks.” Vaughn shrugged with a smile. Fuck, Rhys was gonna miss him. But this time, he knew they had an Echo Comm so he could make sure they were okay. That reassured him...slightly.

“You’re my best bro, you know that? We’ve been through all of the shit together and we’re still best friends after all of it. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think you could take care of all of these people. You seemed to do a damn good job while Fiona and I were gone, so I know you can do it again. Just...call me if you need your daily dose of Rhys’ pep talks, okay?” Vaughn could only nod. Rhys could tell that even he was trying to keep himself from crying. They were two emotional messes and he just knew Sasha would make fun of them for it at some point.

“I’ve got a rocket to catch.” Rhys took one last look at everyone with a bitter smile. As much as he needed to do this, leaving was the hardest part. He was going to miss all of them but...it had to be done. He needed to get to Elpis, get Jack in his body and figure out what to do from there.

To his complete surprise, everyone came up to him for a group hug. Even Gortys, who hugged his legs tight. Then Loader Bot came up to scoop all of them up in his arms, leaving them feeling crushed to death and Gortys hanging in the air by Rhys’ legs.

Fuck, he was gonna miss them.

***

“You got all the right coordinates, cupcake?”

Now, he was just stuck with Jack. Why did he think this was a good idea?

“I already told you I did.” Rhys grit out through his teeth, fiddling with the controls for a moment before settling himself back into the chair with a heavy sigh. It hadn’t even been five minutes since they took off for Elpis and he was already starting to doubt himself. Jack had given him the coordinates to Concordia and Rhys had put them in a little ways away from the city, much to Jack’s displeasure. No, he wasn’t going to land the rocket on the whole damn city.

“Look, you might as well take out the city while you’re at it. Show ‘em you mean business, kid.”

“You said we need weapons and supplies from there. How do you think we’ll do that if the city is destroyed?”

“Oh yeah. Good point, kid. Y’know, it’s a good thing you’re always thinkin’.”

Rhys just rolled his eyes at the AI and stared out the front window, watching as Elpis slowly grew closer. “Jack...how in the world can we rebuild Helios? It was a huge fucking space station, there’s no way we could possibly recreate that.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, kiddo. When we’re back in power, we can do whatever the friggin’ hell we want. It’ll take time, sure. But there are plenty of other Hyperion headquarters we can take over until then. There’s at least one somewhere on Elpis and a couple on Pandora. Eden-5, with all those rich sons of bitches.” Jack laid himself out over the control panel, gazing out the window just as Rhys was. Then he suddenly turned his head and reached out towards Rhys’ robotic hand. It startled him at first but relaxed once he realized Jack was just putting in the suspected coordinates of the scientist on Elpis, Professor Weiss.

“The guy’s hiding out just outside Concordia. In a friggin’ cave, ‘cause that’s not cliché at all. Mad scientist hiding out in a cave. Oh yeah, and the area is pretty much taken over by Kraggons so y’know, try not to get yourself eaten alive, kid. Buuuut that’s why we’re gonna stock up on weapons and supplies. See, I can plan things out too. Gimme some credit here, Rhysie, I mean really.” But Rhys just muttered under his breath, something about not being able to take on that many Kraggons all by himself.

An awkward silence filled the air for a good couple minutes. That was, before Rhys caught Jack staring right at him. And...fairly intently. He was about to open his mouth to ask what the hell his problem was but Jack beat him to it.

“Why’d you keep the cybernetics, kid? The ones in your head right now, I mean.”

They...hadn’t really talked about that. They talked about why Rhys brought him back, yeah. But even months later, he still didn’t really know why he kept them. As a memento? To make Jack suffer in complete nothingness? He had no idea. But Jack was expecting an answer so he might as well at least try to give him one.

“I don’t...really know.” He admitted, which made a look of suspicion cross Jack’s features. “It was weird. It was just an unconscious decision, I just...did it. Maybe, deep down, I knew Hyperion wouldn’t survive without Handsome Jack. Maybe...” He trailed off, but shook his head. No, he was _not_ going to say that to Jack.

“Oh come on, now you’ve got me interested.” Jack sounded almost like a giddy child, but Rhys absolutely refused to continue on and just changed the subject. “Shut up, we’re almost there.”

That damn smirk was on Jack’s face again. “Y’know, I can just beat the answer outta you when I get back in my body. And break one bone for each time you’ve told me, _the_ Handsome Jack, to shut up.” Even though there was a teasing tone in his voice, Rhys tensed up at the threat. It reminded him of how much Jack really could do once he gets back into his own body. But he didn’t dare think about it too much. The last thing he needed was to have a complete panic attack in a rocket that was about to...crash...into the...moon.

“I’m gonna be sick.” Rhys sunk down into his chair with widened eyes. Anxiety immediately took over. What if he didn’t make it when they crashed? What if he couldn’t get out of the rocket and end up slowly dying from hunger and dehydration? W-What...what if...if...

“I know you’re panicking and all, kid, but if you don’t take the controls right now, both of us are gonna pay the price.” The actual panic in Jack’s voice was enough to break Rhys out of his headspace. “Shit, shit, shit, shit.” He repeated to himself as he hurriedly slammed his hand down on a few buttons before taking a hold of the handles.

“I can’t watch this.” Jack just shook his head and disappeared without another word, like he always fucking does. No, he couldn’t get annoyed with him right now. He had to focus on landing, er...crashing, as safely as he could without doing too much harm to himself. Yeah, that would be great.

“Come on, come on.” As a nervous habit, Rhys dug his teeth into his lower lip, chewing at the flesh as he used his ECHO-Eye to quickly scan the upcoming surroundings. There weren’t any Kraggons around that he could see, which was completely fuckin’ amazing. But there were a shit ton of rocks scattered throughout the area for what seemed like miles. Even if he tried to steer the rocket out of the way, there was no way he could actually avoid all of the rocks.

So, all he did was squeeze his eyes shut and tighten his grip on the handles. Even he didn’t want to watch. He suddenly envied Jack’s ability to just disappear from everything.

Everything from that point was a blur. The rocket made impact with one of the larger rocks -of course, just his luck- and came to a sudden halt, jerking Rhys forward and slamming his head into the controls in front of him.

All that followed was darkness.

***

“Kid...kid! C-C’mon, kidd-d-do, I hate n-n-not being able to ssssspeak. Wake the fu-fu-fuck up and fix your friggin’ heaaaaaad.”

“Ughhhhhhhh, my head.”

Rhys moaned out in pain as he forced his eyes open in response to Jack’s voice. What had happened? He remembered landing but why was he...laying on the controls? What was that red stuff on the- _ohshitit’sbloodohgod_. His human hand lifted to carefully tuck itself between his head and the control panel, holding onto the side of his head as he lifted it up.

“Ohhhhh shit.” The whole room was spinning as he sat up, making him want to fall forward again. But he kept control of himself and sunk back into the chair instead. He could feel the blood already coating his palm and oh god, it hurt so much.

“Ki-Kiiiiiid.” From the glass in front of him, he could see Jack flashing in an out, his whole body seeming almost distorted. Rhys had seen that before whenever he hit his head too hard, it would completely mess up Jack’s hologram and either make him disappear or reappear. The last time he saw it happen like this was when he was busy taking out his cybernetics to get rid of him.

“I, I, um...okay. Oh, this is gonna hurt.” Rhys peeled his blood covered hand from his head in order to assess the damage. It wasn’t too bad but his cyber ware had somehow popped out so half of it was sticking straight out. With a whimper that he hoped Jack wouldn’t hear, he pressed his palm flat against the top. He took a moment to silently count to three before forcefully shoving the piece back into his head. On the outside, he just bit down on his tongue and grunted. But if he didn’t have any control? He would have screamed his fuckin’ head off because that _hurt_.

It wasn’t done for nothing though, at least. As soon as it was back in place, Jack’s hologram was settled in place again. And Rhys turned around to find him looking completely relieved, even though he seemed to try to hide it behind his words.

“Good friggin’ job, princess. Could’ve killed both of us before we even reached Concordia.”

“You know, Jack? I really don’t need this right now.”

“What? You gonna tell me to shut up again? ‘Cause that’s just another bone I get to break when I’m in my body, cupcake.”

“Just...shut _up_.”

***

“Look, kid, you can’t mope over it all day, we have real work to do.”

“I could have found another way to get into Concordia.”

“He was just a stupid little robot! It would’ve happened to him eventually, you just, I dunno, sped up the process or something.”

Rhys wasn’t buying it. He really didn’t want to shoot the Claptrap unit. But...he didn’t have the papers it was asking for and he really didn’t want to waste all of his time stuck in Concordia because of it, they didn’t have that kind of time. It was that fact and the fact that Jack nearly begged him to take the unit out. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t let Jack control him anymore. But clearly, even without physically controlling him, he still easily could.

They were on the way to where Professor Weiss was supposedly hiding out. Rhys was able to get himself patched up by Nurse Nina, who he thought was freaking awesome from the moment he met her. Meanwhile, Jack kept a seemingly bored look on his face, constantly telling him to hurry up. While he was desperate to get into his body, Rhys was desperate to drag things out as long as he could before that happened. It was terrifying, thinking about what could happen _when_ it finally happens. But a part of him was also...oddly fascinated by how the science of it all would work. Would Jack’s body need like...new organs and everything? Surely, they would at least need to install all of his cybernetics. Speaking of...

Rhys started to pat his pockets in panic, relieved to find that his newer ones were still on him. That would’ve been bad.

“I hope you know what you have to do if Professor whatshisface doesn’t want to help us out here.” There was something about Jack’s voice this time that was almost...chilling. Yes, Rhys knew what he had to do. He didn’t want to but he knew he had to if it meant getting out of there alive.

“Gotta kill him.” Rhys mumbled under his breath, his eyes flickering to the GPS system coming from his palm. He didn’t know what the hell he was gonna do if he had to kill the Professor. Would he have to figure out how to put Jack into his body all by himself? How in the fuck was he gonna do that? Anything science related was never his strong point.

“Rhys!”

Rhys was only half paying attention to his surroundings when the ground started to shake beneath his feet. He was barely able to lift his head before he was forcefully pinned back into the rocks by a Kraggon, roaring right into his face and nearly scaring him shitless. His robotic hand tried to reach for the shotgun that had slid off to the side upon impact with the ground. As his fingertips just barely touched it, a searing pain spread throughout his entire body. The Kraggon, though the smaller type, had managed to get its mouth around Rhys’ shoulder. It shook its head and clamped down onto the metal until he was screaming bloody murder. Even though it was his cybernetic arm, the feeling of it slowly ripping from where it was attached to his body was excruciating.

Soon, the Kraggon was successful, tearing the robotic arm off and running off with it held tight in its mouth. Rhys could barely even breathe at that point, its paws had surely broken at least a couple ribs, if not more. And he could just feel the blood starting to pool beneath his body. He automatically started feeling lightheaded, struggling to keep his eyes open and his breathing normal.

“Rhys, Rhysie, c’mon, kid. I know you said you didn’t wanna let me control you but that’s the only way I can get you out of this mess alive....hey, hey, no, stay with me, kid.” Rhys was starting to slip in and out of consciousness, only half-understanding what Jack was asking from him. “Look, I can force myself into you and I know that sounds really wrong but... _agh_! You know what I mean. Just give me the friggin’ okay and I can save your stupid ass.”

“Okay.” Rhys half-mumbled/half-slurred as his eyes shut again, slipping into the same darkness he was in earlier that day.


	5. The King Is Fucking Back

Jack had only controlled Rhys’ body once before but fuck, he forgot how much fun it was. It wasn’t fun that the kid was bleeding to death but it was fun just...having a real body.

“Alright, Jack. Save the kid, get back in your own goddamn body.” Jack muttered as he used Rhys’ only hand to push himself up and onto his feet. The hand then covered up the hole where his robotic arm was supposed to be. He had to try to slow down the bleeding at least a little bit before they reached the cave. 

After a short while, Jack was able to successfully use the only health vial the stupid kid cared to buy. All it really did was slow down the bleeding a bit but that was gonna have to do. They needed to reach the cave quickly, without alerting any of the other Kraggons in the area. And preferably, before the kid woke up and started freaking out about not being in control of his body. But as long as he was still alive, Jack didn’t care how he reacted.

Thankfully, the trek was short and Jack only had to shoot down a couple Kraggons on his way there. Judging by the large group in the distance, he guessed they were all having fun chewing up and destroying the kid’s arm. “I’ll get you a new one when we get down to Eden-5, princess.” Jack uttered out, though pausing in his tracks soon after. Since when did he care about...taking care of the stupid kid? Since when was the kid going down to Eden-5 with him? Last he remembered, his plan was to choke the life out of him when he got into his body and do the rest himself.

With a groan, he continued on, not having the time to really care about the future plans at the moment. 

It surprised him that the cave wasn’t guarded by anything. Nothing but a single turret that he shot down with just a couple bullets. But as he got up to the large metal doors, sealed shut by a passcode, Jack immediately became less confident. The fucking password was typed into the kid’s notes. The notes he could only access with that friggin’ arm of his. Looks like he’ll just have to go from memory.

Tucking the pistol back into its holster, Jack freed up his/the kid’s hand to type his guess into the number pad. “Okay...481...5? Shit. 48...25? Fucking...4895. Haha!” He let out a joyous cackle as the numbers were entered with a faint ‘ding’ of approval, removing the seal on the door before the doors opened right after. His hand returned to the pistol once more as he sauntered into the cave.

“W-W-Who are you?” A man, not too much older than Jack himself, stood beside a bed that was covered by a lid made of glass. The frost covering the inside just proved Jack’s split second of suspicion.

But the second he laid eyes on it, his expression turned dark, blood boiling with rage. His steps quickened, refusing to slow until he was able to tuck the barrel of the pistol under the man’s chin, pushing it up into his skin. “Give me my body.” Despite how pissed off he was, hearing the kid sound so pissed and threatening was actually quite interesting. 

“W-What body? Who are you? I demand to know who you are!” Oh, the nerve of this asswipe.

“I’m Handsome fucking Jack, you dimwitted dickbag. Now, you take these cybernetics out of this kid’s head and put them in my freaking body or I’ll make some lovely friggin’ artwork on your walls with your brains. Which sounds better to you?” 

“N-N-No, you’re dead. You can’t be alive. It-It’s not possible!” The old man’s eyes were wide with fear. Just how Jack liked ‘em.

“Your little pal Naka-shitma decided it would be fun to make me a freakin’ AI. This kid here put the psycho’s ID drive, which contained me, into his head and you know what, you don’t need to hear the whole story. Just put me back into my _fucking_ body. _Now_.”

All the asshole could do was nod frantically and slowly raise his hands with his palms facing towards him, as if to show he wasn’t a threat. Reluctantly, Jack lowered the pistol but still kept it pointed straight at him. Just in case. The professor scrambled over to a counter where a scalpel laid on a tray, then hurried back over to Jack to start removing the cyber ware in the kid’s head.

The kid...

“’Ey, before you do that. I’m gonna make one thing clear to you. You better patch this kid up as best as you can when you’re done putting me back together. If I find out you harm him in any way, I will find you. Whether I’m me, an AI or a friggin’ ghost, I will find you. And I will kill you. And I will make you suffer. Got it?”

“Got it, s-s-s-sir.”

***

All of the memories were flooding back. Being on Helios and hiring a goddamn bandit to help him because he was too pathetic and weak to do anything himself. That fucking bitch, Lilith, destroying his whole life. Angel...Angel...dying. _Him_ dying. Then...suddenly being awakened from the darkness and being in the kid’s head. Using him to his advantage, getting so close to killing him but then being shoved back into the fucking darkness again. Being awakened _again_. It was like a never-ending cycle with that.

“Mmph.”

Jack’s eyes cracked open, squinting at the only semi-familiar rock-formed surroundings. They had been...right, they were on Elpis. The kid got hurt and Jack went to professor...whatever his name is himself. And then he started...

In an instant, his eyes snapped open once the realization hit. He could barely move his head so he relied solely on his senses, focusing mainly on his sense of touch. He could feel the thin sheets of the bed under his fingertips. _Both_ of his hands. Which ruled out possibly still being in the kid. Ooh, that sounded wrong. 

After a couple minutes, Jack was finally able to regain a bit more control of his head and neck. His head turned, glancing around the room as best as he could. First, he laid eyes on a small note that was folded on top of a blood-covered tray beside the bed. ‘Jack, if you wake up and I’m not here, just don’t be an idiot and stay there until I return.’. He cocked an eyebrow at the name and lifted his head as best as he could, which was only maybe an inch or so. The next thing he saw was the old man from earlier, now sprawled out over the floor, white lab coat completely soaked in his blood. It was a slight shock but he figured he’d ask the kid about it later.

Then the last thing he saw was...well, the kid.

He was sitting on a not-so-stable looking chair next to the bed, his head tipped forward and resting on the sheets next to Jack’s thigh. He was sleeping and he looked...strangely peaceful considering the whole situation they were in. With his hair completely messed up and his lips parted -with a bit of drool coming out but he decided to ignore that-, breathing so slowly that Jack wondered for a moment if he was still alive. The whole picture made Jack stare at the kid a bit longer than he would’ve liked. Was he admiring him? No fucking way, fuck that kid.

“Callin’ Handsome Jack an idiot, kid? Must have a death wish.” Jack’s throat was dry and it made his voice so raspy that he barely even recognized it.

But he still savored the look on the kid’s face when he woke up.

***

Rhys was having the best dream. He was making out with his ex girlfriend in his apartment on Helios. It started after a long night of drinking and Rhys was loving it. 

But suddenly, he had been pushed against the wall, his hands pinned above his head. Before he got a chance to say anything, the body of his ex began to fade away. Instead, it morphed into the body of... _Jack_. Rhys had tried to stammer out a response but Jack’s lips on his throat made the response turn into a low moan. Soon, the lips drifted up from his neck and to his ear, pressing there as Jack growled.

_”Mine.”_

And then, he was jolted awake for some odd reason. He took a moment to blink rapidly and clear up his blurry vision for a moment before his eyes settled on the body laying in front of him.

Jack.

Handsome Jack...was staring _right_ at him.

He was fucking alive!

“Jack!” Rhys nearly screamed, prying himself away from the chair to stand up and check him over, seeming to forget all about the dream -or nightmare, really- that he just had. He looked...okay. He seemed to be alert, he didn’t look...well, dead. He seemed to be having a bit of a hard time moving but other than that, he was actually...okay. Alive.

“Don’t need to friggin’ make me deaf, dickhead. Now, go get me some water before my throat starts bleeding.” And Rhys wasted no time complying to the demand, rushing over to one of the cooled containers to try to find at least one bottle of water. He was lucky enough to find one at the very bottom, but that was it. He made a mental note to bring Jack back to Concordia so they could stock back up on supplies.

“Here.” Rhys started to awkwardly untwist the cap from the bottle with one hand but Jack snatched it out of his hand before he had the chance. The older man’s eyes were glued to Rhys’ armless shoulder the whole time he gulped down the water. “Yeah, uh...Kraggons pretty much tore it up. I’ll have to figure out how to get a new one, b-but it’s fine for now. How...how do you feel? You were out for a...week, I think?” Rhys was suddenly awestruck, just as he had been the first time he had seen Jack in person for the first time on Helios when he first started working there in his janitorial position. This...this was really _the_ Handsome Jack. In the flesh. In person. Alive. He just...couldn’t believe it really worked.

“I feel like shit but it’s good to be alive, kid.” Rhys watched as Jack’s eyes flicked from his shoulder and up to his throat, fingers twitching around the bottle of water. That’s when he remembered the gravity of his situation. Yeah, Handsome Jack was alive again and it was fucking awesome. But that also meant that he could...oh god.

Jack started to set down the water and place his hands down onto the thin mattress, pushing himself up and slinging his legs over the side. Rhys was only able to back away a couple feet while Jack stabilized himself before he was lunged at, large hands coiling around his throat in a crushing vice.

“Jack, please...” Already, he was begging. He knew it was risky trusting Jack but the asshole didn’t even know what he had done while he was out. “Let me just....explain...please...”

“Do you have any idea how much I imagined this, kid? Just waiting to be back in my body so I could watch the life drain from your eyes as I strangled you? You got on my nerves from the very beginning, Rhysie. And you only pissed me off even more when you just _couldn’t_ let me kill you. But guess what? The king is fucking back, baby. And he’s gonna do whatever he damn well wants.” This was a side of Jack that Rhys had only ever heard about. He never thought he would see it in person, directed towards _him_ .

Rhys could barely get in a single breath with how hard Jack’s hands were wrapped around his throat. But he had to do what he could to stop him. “He...he was going to kill you again...Jack...please...”

“He who?” Jack yelled out, clearly losing his patience and getting frustrated with the fact that Rhys was still alive. Partially, at least.

“Weiss...wanted to...kill...before you...woke up...” Dark spots floated around in Rhys’ vision. Just barely, at first. But as the seconds went on, they grew larger, getting close to completely taking over his sight.

Through half-lidded eyes, he saw Jack hesitating, brow furrowing as if he were contemplating something. Contemplating so hard that the veins in his neck started to show. He was pissed. He wanted Rhys dead and he knew it. But still...

Jack screamed out in frustration before letting Rhys slip from between his fingers and drop to the floor, gasping out for breath. Rhys clutched onto his chest as he laid on his side, gulping in as much air as he possibly could until the dark spots disappeared from his vision. Meanwhile, Jack started to pace the room, going back and forth until he grabbed Rhys’ pistol from the tray beside the bed and pointed it towards him. “Talk, kid. You have 10 seconds before I blow your fucking brains out.”

“H-He said he couldn’t let you live again. He said it was too dangerous. I-I-I tried to talk him o-out of it but I couldn’t so I shot him before he could hurt you. J-Jack, please don’t do this.” He could hear the desperation in his own voice. It made him feel pathetic but there was still so much he needed to do and he wanted to prove to himself that Jack _could_ be trusted. At least a little bit.

Jack seemed conflicted again, glancing back and forth between Weiss’ body and Rhys. After a long pause, Jack reluctantly dropped his arm and tossed the gun over onto the bed. “Get the hell up, kid. We need to figure out how to get off of this death trap of a friggin’ moon.” Not wanting to piss Jack off even further, Rhys scrambled back up to his feet and made his way over to the bed to collect his pistol and tuck it back into its holster. His breath hitched in his throat as he felt Jack come up behind him, pressing up against his back to reach out and grab the half-empty water bottle that was discarded earlier. 

Memories of the dream Rhys had came flooding back in an instant. It made his cheeks flush and his body tense until Jack stepped away and went somewhere else. What the hell was wrong with him? Jack? Seriously? He was acting this way around the asshole that just tried to kill him? He had what he was sure was going to be a fucking wet dream about _him_? What the absolute fuck?

***

The whole trip back to Concordia was silent. They hadn’t run into any Kraggons and Rhys wasn’t going to dare speak to Jack after what had happened in the cave. He had no clue what would set the guy off now. All he could do was ask how he was and he could have a bullet in his head within seconds. So, he decided to just wait for Jack to say something first.

After dealing with everyone in Concordia being completely flabbergasted that Handsome _fucking_ Jack was back, they were able to find a place to stay for the night. Jack stayed back while Rhys went to go get supplies and new Oz kits for the both of them, and also to see if there was anywhere he could find a new damn arm. But of course, there weren’t any places miles and miles from the city that had that kind of technology. Looks like Eden-5 was his best bet at the moment.

When he returned to their temporary base, he spotted Jack just sitting on the couch, staring down at himself. He was wiggling and curling his fingers, forming his hands into fists and so on. Seeing Jack look so...intrigued was different. There wasn’t much he really cared about. That Rhys knew of, that is. So, seeing him so into something was interesting.

“Find an arm, kiddo?”

Rhys only realized he was very obviously staring when he snapped out of it and saw Jack eyeing him as if he were a complete creep. He only shook his head and made his way over to offer Jack the Oz kit that was tucked under his arm, the other one being in the backpack awkwardly slung over his one good shoulder. “They stopped selling that kind of technology here a while ago. Cybernetics too. Just...guns, booze and shit.”

“Then I guess we need to have the talk.” Rhys raised an eyebrow at Jack’s wording but said nothing else and seated himself on the other side of the couch, as far away from Jack as possible. 

“So...clearly I would be a complete jackass, get it? Jackass? Hah. Anyway, I’d be a jackass if I tried to kill you now. Since you saved my life and all that shit. We’ll go on with our plan, figure out how to get off this damn moon and down to Eden-5. There, we’ll get you a new arm so you can be at least a little more useful to me and then we’ll take over the Hyperion headquarter...wherever the hell it is. I’ll figure it out. You got all that, princess? ‘Cause I ain’t repeating it.” Rhys just nodded meekly as he passed Jack a soft pretzel from a random vending machine, then focused on awkwardly nibbling on his own. What the hell was he supposed to say? He was confident with Jack around before. Now, he was just...terrified of getting killed all the time.

The two of them ate in silence. Well...partial silence. Judging by the sounds Jack was making, he loved the fact that he could actually eat again. And Rhys, not really feeling all that hungry at the moment, offered the man the other half of his pretzel. Jack yanked it out of his hold in an instant and started finishing that off as well.

“You know,” Jack started, his mouth still full of chewed up pretzel. It made Rhys grimace but thankfully, he waited to swallow before continuing. “That professor dick was right.”

“Huh?” Rhys blinked at him, not entirely understanding what he was trying to get at.

“’Bout me being dangerous, kid. You’re the only person who’s annoyed me so much that isn’t dead yet. You better feel lucky.” And boy, did Rhys feel damn lucky. Rhys only chuckled in agreement and awkwardly glanced over at Jack. He was just watching him as he wiped his hands off on his pants, looking at him as if he were trying to figure him out. “What?” Rhys finally dared to ask, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Did he have something on his face? Was Jack thinking about whether to try to kill him again or not?

“Just remembered that I coulda sworn I heard you moaning my name when I first woke up. Maybe it was nothing.” Jack waved a hand in a dismissive manner before getting up from the couch to start putting all of their stuff together in the other backpack. Rhys was thankful for that because there was no way Jack could miss the deep blush on his cheeks if he were looking at him. 

“Ooooh, you got booze. Let’s drink, kid! Celebrate the return of the king!” Jack immediately dug out all of the bottles of alcohol from the backpack, spreading them out over the floor. Rhys caught one that Jack tossed towards him with shaky hands, not entirely sure if drinking was the best thing to do. He was a mess when he drank and he let his guard down way too easily. For some strange reason, doing that around Jack, the psychotic murderer, didn’t really sound like a great idea.

But because he was a psychotic murderer, Rhys found himself drinking anyway. Mainly from the fear of being shot if he didn’t. But also because the whole day had been complete hell and getting drunk didn’t seem all that bad when he thought about it. 

“Oh, oh! There was this one asshole - ahaha, I freakin’ love this one - w-who tried to say that he could easily take my job because he was a ‘better person’ than I was. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. But I still had to kill him, y’know? No one says that kind of shit to me and gets away with it. Maybe you but that’s a big maybe.” Jack shrugged and took another swig of his almost empty bottle of bourbon. 

The ‘story’ had sent Rhys into some weird giggle fit for some reason that the sober part of his brain didn’t really understand. But once he finally got himself under control, aside from a giggle here and there, he replied. “He was right though. I mean, anyone is a better person than you are but being a good person doesn’t get you to the top.”

“See, you get it, kiddo. I didn’t think you really understood it at first but I had faith in you. Being freakin’ nice doesn’t make you the goddamn king.” Jack titled his head back, taking every last drop of the drink before tossing the bottle aside, making Rhys jump at the loud shattering sound that followed when it hit the floor. 

Rhys finished his own bottle of whiskey, but had the decency to set it down on the floor rather than just throwing it. He then sunk back into the couch, his one hand tucked back under his head. It had been a while since he let himself get this drunk and it felt damn good. He didn’t give two shits about anything at the moment and it felt so freeing and satisfying. And just as he was closing his eyes to rest, he was jolted back to reality by Jack reaching out to him. The man grabbed his face by his jaw with a harsh grip, turning his face to face his own...face?

“What were you dreaming about earlier, kid?”

“I...I...uh...”

“Spit it out.”

Rhys continued to stammer for a moment before just barely collecting himself enough to respond. “It...um. I got drunk and I was making out with...my ex girlfriend. But then, she, like...pushed me against the wall and pinned me there and then she wasn’t her. Like...she kinda morphed...y’know...into...you.” If his cheeks weren’t red from all the alcohol in his system, they sure as hell were red now. 

“Huh.” Was all Jack said as his eyes swept over Rhys’ face. Was that a hint of a smirk he saw? Or was he just seeing things?

Everything else happened way too quick for Rhys to even comprehend what was happening. Jack grabbed Rhys by his wrist and tugged, dragging him off the couch. Suddenly, his chest was being pressed up against the wall with his arm pinned behind his back. He felt like he was going to faint. But he didn’t know if it was from how quick he had moved or the fact that Handsome goddamn Jack was pressing up against him and _ohgodwasthatabonerhefelt_?

“Like this, kitten?” Jack purred against the shell of his ear, using all of his weight to keep Rhys pressed firmly against the wall. He struggled to breathe properly but he was honestly enjoying himself way too much to care. What the hell was Jack doing and why the hell did Rhys love it so much? 

“Yeah.” He managed to choke out, though it ended up sounding more like a pathetic squeak. Jack didn’t seem to care though. He just chuckled behind him and all of a sudden, Rhys felt teeth catch his earlobe. Jack tugged on the flesh, making the slightly taller man squeak again. And that seemed to only urge the older man on.

“I could get used to you like this, Rhysie. Look at you. So submissive, all of your walls down, practically begging for more.” As if on cue, his words made Rhys let out a strangled sound. His hips pressed back, pretty much rubbing himself against Jack’s crotch. The sober part of his brain was just _screaming_ at him to get a hold of himself. ‘ _What the fuck are you doing, you stupid shit?! Can’t you see he’s trying to do this so he can kill you easily?!_ ’. But fuck, if this is how Rhys was gonna die, then so fucking be it. Sounded like the best kind of death to him.

“Tell me what you want, pumpkin.” Seemingly unfazed by Rhys’ movements, Jack simply pushed his own hips forward. The two repeated the actions until they were...really awkwardly dry humping each other. But Rhys couldn’t care less at the moment.

“I...I want...”

“C’mon, tell me, baby.”

It sounded like Jack was nearly panting and holy hell, if that wasn’t enough to make Rhys weak in the knees. But this time, he couldn’t blame his stammering and hesitation on the alcohol. It was his damn pride now. What if Jack used this against him in the future? What if everyone somehow found out what he told him? What if-

“ _Now_.” The ex-CEO urged, clearly growing frustrating with the lack of an answer.

“I want you.” Rhys just mumbled against the wall. It was so quiet that even he barely heard it.

“Uh, no. That ain’t gonna work for me, princess. Louder.” The word was emphasized by a rough jolt of his hips against Rhys’ ass.

“I fucking want you.” Rhys gritted out this time, deciding to throw any thoughts of pride out the window. “I want you fucking bad, Jack. I don’t know why the fuck I’ve been thinking about you like this but all I know is that I can’t take it anymore. It’s driving me crazy, you’re driving me crazy and I need it so bad.”

“What’s ‘it’, huh, princess?”

“You know what it is.”

“Tell me or you’re gonna end up with the worst case of blue balls.”

“I want your cock in me, I want you to fucking fuck me, Jack. Are you happy now?”

“Very.” With a snicker, Jack’s free hand reached around Rhys. His fingers brushed over the buckle of his belt before freezing in place. And the rest of his body seemed to follow. Rhys was about to ask what was going on before he felt him step back. His hand left Rhys’ buckle but he was still held in place by his wrist. 

Jack leaned in again, just enough to growl against Rhys’ ear.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ _destroy_ you when we’re sober.”

“W-What?”

“That’s a promise, kiddo. I’m gonna make sure all of Concordia knows you’re my bitch.”


	6. Sober

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys wakes up not really remembering what had happen the previous drunken night. But Jack remembers all too well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this some chapter length smut I see? It is! This was actually a lot of fun to write and one of the only times I've written smut all the way through. Updating after this chapter may be a bit more slow than the 'one chapter a day' schedule I've been doing. But it will still be updated frequently. So, for now, enjoy all of the Rhack smut!

Everything hurt. Literally everything hurt.

From the top of his head all the way down to his toes.

This head to be the worst fucking hangover he’s ever had. Why the hell had he agreed to drink with Jack? Oh yeah, threat of murder. Right. Jack hadn’t...done anything to him...right? Was he feeling this shitty because he beat the shit out of him or was he really just experiencing the hangover from Hell? At this point, he really hoped it wasn’t the latter. His pride was starting to get to him. It was just two moderately sized bottles of whiskey but with how long it had been since he last got drunk like that, he might as well have drank triple that. It’s not like he was a lightweight or anything...well...he kind of was anyway but...yeah.

“Wake up, kitten.”

A bottle of water was hurtled towards him, landing straight on his chest and startling him to the point of flailing wildly. Thankfully, he was able to catch himself on the edge of the couch before he rolled off. Please, he was not going to deal with even more embarrassment today. How was Jack so peppy even after all of that-wait, kitten? That’s a new one.

Rhys peeked one eye open to see Jack kneeling down a few feet away, picking up...glass? Geez, what the hell had happened last night? With a groan, he sat up and clutched onto the water bottle, squinting to try to figure out what exactly Jack was doing. “Do you...need help with that?” Looked like a broken bottle. But he didn’t remember Jack flipping out or anything. Granted...he didn’t remember much from last night anyway.

“Nah, kiddo. Just focusing on sobering yourself up and saving your energy. You’ll need it.” The look on Jack’s face was unlike one he’d ever seen before. Like...dark. But not the ‘I’m gonna kill you’ dark. It was...something else that Rhys didn’t have the mental capability to figure out at this point. So, he only nodded and untwisted the cap from the water with his teeth. Not having another arm fucking sucked. As he drank, Jack continued on. “I went ahead and got a lot of our plans figured out. I, being me, was able to find someone that could fix up our original rocket free of charge. So, that was great. Did a little searching around on the computers and found out there’s definitely another Hyperion HQ in Eden-5 with all of those rich bastards. We’ll gather up people here on Elpis to work on the new Helios station. While that’s being built, you and I are taking over the HQ in Eden-5. And once Helios is finished and back in place, we’ll take all the workers from the HQ and bring them there to work for us.”

Rhys only got maybe a third of all of that, but still attempted to act as if he completely understood. “Okay, yeah, sure...cool. Really cool.”

“You have no idea what I said, huh, kiddo?”

“Not at all.”

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance but to Rhys’ surprise, didn’t lash out. He expected to get a piece of glass thrown at his neck or something. But Rhys just shrugged it off. Hey, if Jack wasn’t trying to kill him, who was he to complain? Being able to feel at least slightly safe was a miracle on its own. But it was starting to scare him that he didn’t really remember what happened last night. The last thing he really partially remembered was Jack telling him random stories from when he was still CEO. What in the world happened after that...? Ugh, thinking made his head _huuuuurt_!

Rhys was suddenly being pinned back into the couch, the bottle of water flying out of his hand and spilling all over the floor. He felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him and it only caught in his throat when he felt Jack’s masked lips pressing to his throat. The action was weirdly...gentle. And it just continued, his lips pressing open mouthed kisses all the way up his neck and up to his jaw. That was, until Rhys snapped out of it and realized what the hell was going on.

What the hell?!

“Jack, what the fuck are you doing?” A nervous feeling began to spread through his body. What was Jack trying to do to him? He didn’t understand, why was this crazed asshole...doing this?

To his surprise, Jack pulled back in an instant, eyeing the man below him with an incredulous look on his face. “How...how much do you remember from last night, kid?”

Rhys stammered, not really sure what to say. “I...I remember everything up to like...halfway through my second bottle of whiskey if that...helps...at all? Look Jack, I don’t know what happened last night but I do stupid shit when I’m drunk, okay? Whatever happened, it wasn’t....” He trailed off, suddenly getting himself lost in the look on Jack’s face. It had turned from one of disbelief to just...completely neutral. But his eyes were filled with...something. He barely even get a chance to figure out what it was before Jack grumbled and got back up to his feet with a harsh shove to Rhys’ chest.

“Yeah, whatever, kid.” With that, Jack turned and left their room. Rhys had no idea where he would have gone but he also didn’t really care at the moment.

Jack looked...hurt.

***

The days went on while they waited for the rocket to get fixed up. Jack had barely even spoken two sentences to him ever since the morning after they drank. As the day progressed, Rhys had remembered what ended up happening that night and he flushed with embarrassment. What the hell was wrong with him? Drunk or not, why the hell was he trying to bang the king of all assholes? It didn’t make any sense to him. But Jack...clearly thought it somehow meant something.

He had never seen Jack show hurt and rejection like that. A part of him wondered why in the world he even felt that way. He tried to _kill_ him with his bare hands that same afternoon. And didn’t they hate each other? Yeah...Rhys occasionally had dreams about the guy. But that didn’t mean he really felt anything for him, right? And why did that one moment between the two of them make Jack actually want him to the point where he was basically hurt that he rejected him?

Surely Rhys...didn’t feel the same way? The man tried to kill him multiple times and their relationship wasn’t what anyone could consider healthy. But there was still...just something about him that was appealing to him. He didn’t know what it was but he did know there was at least something.

“Jack...” Rhys began, awkwardly toying with a loose thread on his jacket. It was another night where they were just sitting on the couch, refusing to talk to each other. “I’m sorry...look, I didn’t know you felt-”

“Felt? Kid, I don’t feel shit. Do you know how long its been since I last had a good fuck? I was desperate and you were the closest thing there was to shove my dick into. Don’t flatter yourself, princess, I don’t ‘feel’ anything.” Rhys should have been relieved. Right? But instead, his shoulders -or shoulder- slumped and he just felt...empty. Disappointed. There was something seriously wrong with him if he was disappointed that the man who tried to kill him doesn’t ‘feel’ anything for him. Rhys’ sanity had quickly depleted ever since sticking that damn Nakayama drive in his head.

Before even waiting for Rhys’ response, Jack got up from the couch and started heading for the door. “W-Where are you going?” Okay, did he really need to sound that desperate and clingy?

“Have you seen me, kid?” Jack raised an eyebrow and gestured to himself. Rhys didn’t see anything wrong at first, then took a moment to really look. Holy shit, were Jack’s clothes always completely bloodstained? How had he not noticed that before? That must have been from when the vault hunters killed him. But seriously, how hadn’t he noticed? It seemed like questioning everything about himself was becoming quite normal. “I’m not gonna walk into Eden-5 looking like I was just murdered. I mean, I was and all but I don’t want to look like it, ya know? I’m alive now, I need to look the part.” With that, he gave a dismissive wave and walked out the door, leaving Rhys in silence.

And he took it as the perfect time to test out his new Echo comm and finally call Vaughn. He hadn’t been able to at all since they landed on Elpis and it made him feel so shitty. He had promised Vaughn that he would be able to call him. But with being knocked unconscious when they landed, being attacked by a Kraggon, losing his arm and being knocked out again...then everything with Jack, he had been a little too busy to made a proper call.

“Rhys! Guys, it’s Rhys! I’m gonna put you on speak-”

“No, no, no. Just you and me right now, Vaughn. I have a lot of shit to tell you but I’ll try to make it as short as possible.”

“O-Okay...okay, bro, shoot.”

Taking a deep breath, Rhys spilled _everything_. “So, we crashed into this huge ass rock when we landed and I kinda got knocked out. Then we went into Concordia and I killed a goddamn Claptrap unit because I didn’t have the papers he needed and I really didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in Concordia’s jail. Then we went to Weiss’ hideout and I got attacked by a damn Kraggon and lost my arm. My cybernetic one, don’t worry, bro. And then I passed out there too but Jack took over and I know, I know, that was really stupid of me but what else was I supposed to do? Say no and become Kraggon dinner? Anyway, he got us into Weiss’ cave somehow and when I woke up he was in his...oh.” Rhys awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck with a heavy sigh. He hadn’t told Vaughn about Jack’s body. Well, he was gonna hear it now. “So...this Professor Weiss dude kept Jack’s body frozen when he died. Jack found out about it when we were still on Helios and he...y’know, thought it would be a good idea to...transfer my cybernetics to his body and make him...y’know...alive...again.”

“What?! Rhys, please tell me you didn’t do that.”

“What was I supposed to do, Vaughn? That was the only way any of this could even work, okay? And...yeah, I regretted it at first. He woke up like...almost a week later and the first thing he did was try to fuckin’ murder me. H-He didn’t, obviously. But he tried. And Vaughn, he’s so much more scary in person. It’s just like...the way he holds himself. Like that whole ‘if looks could kill’ kind of thing, y’know? He looks like he could shoot freakin’ lasers out of his eyes and-”

“Rhys. Fanboying.”

“Shut up. Anyway. He didn’t kill me. But that night...holy shit, Vaugh, I might as well have died.”

“Uhhhhh, explain? Please?”

“He fucking came on to me, Vaugh! We were drinking and shit and I didn’t remember it at first but he-he came on to me and pressed me against the wall and I could feel-”

“Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, no. Nope. Nuh uh. Do _not_ need to hear the details, please. I don’t really want to vomit. But seriously, are you sure you weren’t just imagining things and twisting the situation somehow?”

“I’m sure. Because he did it again the next morning. And bro, I’m so confused right now.”

“What’s there to be confused about? He’s a creep that took advantage of you. It’s pretty simple to me.”

“But that’s the thing, Vaughn.” Rhys groaned out and collapsed back into the couch, staring up at the ceiling with conflicted eyes. “I liked it, Vaughn. Yeah, I said no the second time he did it but...I don’t know. I think something’s wrong with me. This guy has tried to kill me...what? Four times now? And he’s an absolute dick. But I still...didn’t _not_ enjoy it. I know I should be completely and utterly disgusted right now and I am. But not with him, with myself.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, bro. I’m not exactly his fan and you know that. But I know you also can’t really control how you feel. Just like with how I feel about Sasha.”

“Wait, excuse me?” Rhys’ mismatched eyes were about to pop out of his head. He other line was silent for a long moment, which caused him to break out into a fit of laughter. “Y-Y-You like... _Sasha_? Holy shit, b-bro, that’s great!”

“Oh, shut the hell up, Rhys. At least I don’t like some psychotic killer.” Eh, he had a point there.

The rest of the conversation was with the rest of the group. There still wasn’t any news on Fiona but Sasha seemed to be dealing with it a bit better than she was when he left. Gortys kept asking when Rhys would be coming back for a visit and when she would get to meet Handsome Jack because she thought he sounded cool.

“He is not cool. You should not meet him.” Loader Bot had said in the background, which was followed by a soft 'Ohhh.' from the smaller robot. He sounded so protective over Gortys and it was pretty freakin’ cute.

“Look man, it was great catching up but we gotta have another meeting about finding Fiona, okay? And hey...I may not approve of the dickwad but if you really do like him, go with it, okay?” Rhys felt his cheeks heat up at the comment, grumbling something about how he doesn’t like him before exchanging goodbyes and ending the call. Him? Like Jack? Ugh, Vaughn was just as crazy as he was.

“Who were ya talking to there, kiddo?” Rhys suppressed a startled squeak as he pushed himself up into a seated position. His eyes shifted to the doorway where he heard Jack’s voice and oh god Handsome Jack was topless in front of him holy shit. He felt his mouth run dry, staring in the absolute least subtle way possible. There were scars scattered all over his torso, the smaller ones getting hidden beneath a thin layer of hair covering his skin. And he was...definitely more ripped than he had expected. Not freakishly so, but his abs were definitely defined. And his pants, because they were still partially from being washed, clung to his skin and hung low around his hips without his belt on. There was absolutely nothing left to the imagination. Was he still staring? He just...couldn’t look away. He better not be drooling.

“I got most of the stains out but I’m gonna have to get a whole new friggin’ wardrobe when we get to Eden-5. Goddamn bandits, ruining my nice freakin’ clothes.” Jack seemed to be too interested in finding a way to hang up his clothes to dry to even notice Rhys’ staring. So, he continued to talk but Rhys was only half listening. All he could think about is what Vaughn told him.

_’If you really do like him, go with it, okay?’_

“So, you didn’t answer me. Who were ya talkin’ to, pri-mmph.”

While Jack was busy setting out his clothes, Rhys had gotten up from the couch and made his way towards him. He didn’t let himself be stopped by his pride or all of those ‘what ifs’ that floated around in his head. Instead, he grabbed onto Jack’s arm and leaned in to press his lips firmly to the other man’s.

***

The fuck was this kid doing? Hadn’t he made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with him? Sure, Jack was hoping the kid would come around some day but geez, he didn’t expect it to be this quick. Can’t say he was complaining though. He wanted to wreck him ever since their drunken night together.

Favoring to establish his dominance straight away, one of Jack’s hands tangled into Rhys’ hair, using it to guide him backwards until his back hit the wall with a soft ‘thump’.

“Knew you’d come around, kitten.” Jack mumbled against his chapped lips before forcefully melding them together once more. Shit, the kid was _loving_ it. He was using his only hand to practically scratch and claw at Jack’s torso before giving up and hooking the arm around his neck instead. He needed to get him a new damn arm already.

“Jack...” Rhys whimpered out as Jack’s other hand wedged between them, palming his clearly growing erection through his pants. Meanwhile, further up, he had pried his lips away from the younger man’s and started his assault on his neck. He didn’t hold back, not even in the least bit. He bit and sucked at the pale skin with everything he had. The kid could take it, that he knew pretty damn well. And he was rewarded with the most orgasmic sounds Jack had ever heard.

Fuck, that kid was gonna be the death of him.

But after just a moment of marking Rhys up, Jack reluctantly dropped his hands to his sides and stepped back. He had to suppress a pleased growl at how Rhys’ first reaction was to follow, but stopped at the shake of Jack’s head.

“Strip for me, pretty thing.” Jack was already grasping at his own erection through his still moderately damp pants, squeezing and trying to keep it down for the time being. He wanted to drag this out as much as he could, savor each and every moment of the man’s sudden submission to him. Because who knew if it would ever happen again? For all he knew, this could very well be a one time thing. So, he was going to treat it as if it were.

Though...he didn’t _really_ think through the stripping thing. Rhys was only able to get a couple buttons undone on his vest before Jack completely lost his patience.

Grabbing each side of the vest, he ripped the rest of it open, sending the last couple buttons flying off in different directions. He uttered some sort of a promise to buy him a new one once they get to Eden-5. But even with the promise, he continued to quite literally tear off the shirt that lay beneath the now discarded vest. Buttons went flying again and he caught a glimpse of Rhys staring at him with a mixture of horror and lust. So, being forceful was the kid’s thing. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

Jack glanced over the shoulder to give the room a quick look around. The table looked like it would be the most fun, so he went with that. One hand wrapped around Rhys’ wrist, dragging him over to the table while ignoring his ‘what are you doing?’ comments. It actually kind of amused him, how curious the little shit was about everything. It was...cute, even.

With a rough shove towards the table, Rhys stumbled forward until his hips dug into the side. But Jack didn’t want to give him even a second to adjust, his hand splaying out flat against his back and pushing him forward until his chest was completely pressing against the wood. As he was busy undoing Rhys’ belt and ignoring his attempts at shifting to get more comfortable, Jack took a moment to admire the skin that had been uncovered. The damn kid was covered in tattoos. They all matched the ones that typically peeked out from under his shirt, blue designs of varying swirls, shapes and patterns. It was actually pretty pleasing to the eye, especially with how they all contrasted against his pale skin.

After he tugged Rhys’ belt out from the loops of his pants, he paused. It wasn’t like him to hesitate, but something about him just...made him want to make sure. And so, being as careful as possible so he didn’t scare the kid, Jack maneuvered the belt between Rhys’ neck and the table. He only let the leather press against his throat, not tightening it but just letting him know it was there. Then, he leaned down, lips ghosting over the shell of his ear as he murmured.

“You trust me, kid?”

There was a long silence that filled the air, making Jack start to grow nervous. If the kid didn’t trust him, it’s not like he wouldn’t understand. He had tried to kill him a good amount of times, at least three being from choking him to death. He would honestly be surprised if he said-

“I trust you.”

Jack just stared at him in disbelief. For some reason, he tried to convince himself that it was the lust talking and that’s not how Rhys really felt. Honestly...Rhys shouldn’t trust him. But he put his mild concerns aside for now. They’d already gotten so far, he wasn’t just going to stop there.

With a faint smirk, Jack gave him a small nod and pulled the opposite end of the belt through the buckle, pulling it tight until the leather just started to dig into his pale skin. “Just lemme know if it starts being too much for ya, dollface.” Though it was muffled into the table, he heard Rhys scoff at the comment and mumble something about being able to handle it just fine. Damn, this kid was freakin’ great. He was gonna have so much fun breaking him.

“You good without lube, princess? Pretty sure we didn’t bring any...unless you were planning on having fun by yourself.” Though he was merely teasing, the thought of Rhys fingering himself when he didn’t think Jack was there was way too hot for him to handle. With an impatient growl, he continued to tuck his fingers under the waistband of Rhys’ pants, tugging them down his slender legs and letting them pool around his ankles for the time being. Shit, the kid had a nice ass. Perfectly rounded, not too big but certainly not flat in the least bit. He was slowly finding it hard to dislike anything about the kid’s body.

“J-Jack, wait.” Rhys reached back in an attempt to blindly grab onto his arm, however he didn’t turn his head. But Jack could still see the hint of a blush tinting his cheeks. With an arch of his brow, he paused and let him continue on.

“I’ve never...” And he trailed off. But Jack knew exactly what he was trying to say. It took him by complete surprise. Yeah, he had mentioned an ex girlfriend from his dream but he never would have thought that he had never even been fucked before. He seemed like too much of a natural for that to be true.

But that small, awkward glance back at Jack just proved that he was telling the truth. All Jack could do was laugh. He didn’t know what exactly it was about the situation that was so funny to him but it was just _so_ amusing.

“Don’t laugh.” Rhys grumbled and the embarrassed look on his face was enough for Jack to try to force himself to calm down. A couple chuckles still ended up slipping out but it didn’t stop him from leaning forward, placing an uncharacteristically tender kiss behind Rhys’ ear and tugging his head back by the belt at the same time. “Don’t worry, pumpkin. I’ll make sure you love it so much you’ll never want me to stop.” Jack heard a strangled sound of approval from Rhys in response.

While Jack let Rhys’ head lower back onto the table, he started to undo his own pants, though simply undoing them seeing as it would take way too much time to try to get the damp clothing off of himself. But as he worked on that, he couldn’t help but think about what Rhys said. Something about it just...brought out the animalistic side in Jack. He had the chance to be Rhys’ first.

And all he could think about was making damn sure that he would be his last.

***

“Suck.”

Rhys blinked in surprise as two fingers were suddenly shoved into his face. He was about to respond but the digits slipped past his lips before he got the chance to. Jack was fucking impatient...but why did he kind of like that? Pushing the thought aside, he focused on complying to Jack’s rather sexy sounding command. His tongue curled around his fingers, making sure they were...well, wet enough to make him feel at least a little bit better about what was about to happen. He had a feeling that either way, it was gonna hurt like a bitch.

He suddenly felt the belt around his neck loosen just a tad, then felt Jack’s fingers stroking over his back. It was soothing. He wasn’t being rough at all, just kind of...lazily running his fingers across his back. It made him smile. Something Jack did actually made him smile. Not from embarrassment or anything like that. He just...liked it.

***

While Rhys was busy very thoroughly coating Jack’s fingers, he let go of the belt just for a moment. The kid’s tattoos intrigued him for some reason. On the outside, when his body was covered up, he just looked like a nerdy, tech-loving geek. But once you stripped him down to nothing, it was like he was a completely different person. To be honest, Jack preferred his newer look. The old ‘vest and tie’ shit really didn’t do anything for him. The look he had now was more confident and sure. And a hell of a lot more sexy.

But nothing beat seeing him completely naked and submitting to him.

“That’s enough, kiddo.” Jack muttered, trying to keep himself at least somewhat composed. He would be more gentle for now. But once Rhys _just_ got comfortable, he’ll make sure he lets all of Concordia know that Handsome goddamn Jack is here.

From that point on, he was silent. He wanted to make sure he heard any sounds of discomfort -or pleasure, of course- from Rhys while he tried to prep him as much as he could. Without lube, it was gonna sting, for sure. But he only hoped that Rhys would take it well and not be completely turned off.

One damp fingertip just lightly teased his hole, making Rhys’ hips jerk in surprise and the rest of his body tense up. But Jack continued on, allowing him to get used to the feeling. Once the younger male started to relax under his touch, he pressed forward. Slowly and carefully, he let the tip of his finger sink in, his eyes glued to Rhys’ face for the time being. When he wasn’t met with any resistance, he continued the rest of the way in. That’s when the princess’ nose started to scrunch up, but he didn’t look to be in any pain, really.

“I knew you could take it.” He kept speaking even as he began to move his finger in slow in and out movements, thinking that maybe talking would help take Rhys’ mind off of the weird sensation. “How does it feel?”

“Fuckin’ weird.” Rhys mumbled against the wood. But despite his response, his hips seemed to unconsciously push back against Jack’s finger. And to his amusement, the kid didn’t seem to even notice that he was doing it.

“Good boy, pumpkin.” The man seemed to approve of the praise, letting out a soft moan that ended up sounding more like a whine. And as much as Jack loved hearing it, he was just impatiently waiting to be able to hear the screams that rip from that beautiful throat.

“Gonna add the second finger, kiddo. ‘Kay?” All Rhys did was nod in response and push back. Now that he was more well adjusted, Jack let himself focus on the task at hand instead of his face. And damn, it was hot watching his fingers sink into the man beneath him. He still kept his other hand splayed out over his back, using it to gauge how tense he becomes.

Rhys took it like a champ, to the point where Jack was almost proud of the kid. He only had to take a minute to stretch him out a bit before he was more confident that he could start without completely tearing him apart. It was only when he removed his fingers and press his hips to Rhys’ ass that he started to tense up. Ah, the kid knew what was coming next. But staying true to his unspoken promise, he made sure to stay gentle for the time being. Jack leaned forward, placing soft kisses along his shoulder and all the way over to the other, which was still covered up by thick bandages. It didn’t bother him in the least bit. He had seen much, _much_ worse things in his life.

“Just keep breathing, kitten.” Jack mumbled against his leather covered nape. It took a moment for Rhys to get his breathing under control. But once it finally did, Jack wrapped a hand around the base of his cock, holding it steady as he pressed forward. He didn’t know what came over him. But feeling how tight Rhys was around him forced out a guttural groan and his hips snapped forward, suddenly forgetting the promise he had made.

The pained, choked out sound that Rhys made snapped Jack out of whatever weird head space he was in. It took him a minute to comprehend what had just happened, then letting out a hushed ‘shit’ once realizing what he did. He lifted his head just enough to look down at Rhys’ face. The kid was biting down on his lip so hard Jack could’ve sworn he saw a droplet of blood coming from the flesh. His eyes were squeezed shut and his blunt nails were digging into the wood under him. And Jack’s first reaction was to reach out, closing his larger hand over Rhys’...daintier one.

“Sorry, pumpkin. Don’t really know what came over me.” He attempted to chuckle and lighten up the mood, not really knowing what else to do. If this was any normal one night stand, Jack wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass about how much pain they were in, as long as they weren’t telling him to stop. There was just something different about Rhys. Maybe it was because he had spent so much time with the kid already. But he didn’t really know. All he knew was that a small part of him felt sort of...bad, for hurting the kid so much.

“Just keep going.” Rhys gritted out, taking Jack completely by surprise. Did...did he hear that right? Usually all of his partners wanted a minute to adjust and get used to it, not that he was bragging or anything...nah, he was bragging. But geez, this kid kept just surprising him. Not like he was gonna say no to him though. So, he just complied, peeling himself away from Rhys’ back and straightening up to get a tight hold on his hips with both hands. Keeping them still, he started off with uncomfortably slow, shallow movements. Oh yeah, he was friggin’ holding himself back, alright. He wanted to pound into him until the kid couldn’t scream anymore.

“I’m fine, Jack.”

The comment made him pause, contemplating the actual meaning behind it. But all it took was one glance over Rhys’ shoulder with his amber colored ECHO-Eye and a wave of realization finally hit him.

The kinky bastard...

He fuckin’ loved the pain.

And Jack didn’t waste any time giving it to him.

With his nails digging their way into Rhys’ hips, his pace quickened in an instant. He was gonna show just what happens when he lets out the animal in him. And judging by his reactions so far, the kid was gonna love it.

***

In just seconds, Rhys was trying to use the table to muffle the screams that started leaving his lips. Shame? What the hell was that? Pride? Nah, fuck that. As much as the smallest part of him wanted him to keep at least some of his pride, there was no way that was gonna happen. He could barely even think straight with how hard Jack was pounding into him. It hurt, but it hurt so damn good. He was discovering so much about himself ever since Jack came into his life. Or...into his head, really. He realized he was definitely a masochist, for sure. And he may... _may_ have a bit of a power fetish. But when it comes to Handsome Jack, the most powerful man...ever, really...who wouldn’t have a power fetish?

Suddenly, the movements stopped and Jack pulled out hurriedly. Rhys was about to ask what the hell he was doing before he was grabbed by his side and his shoulder, forced onto his back in one fluid motion. Without even giving him time to adjust to the new position, Jack grabbed onto his hips and slammed into him once more, tearing a loud cry from Rhys’ throat that he only partially muffled with his arm.

“Uh uh, that ain’t gonna work, kitten. The whole _damn_ city is gonna know _you_ are fuckin’ _mine_. Got it?” Each word was met with a harsher thrust for emphasis, clearly trying to push him over the edge. And fuck, he was holding on so hard to that last bit of pride.

Despite getting so close to screaming out each time Jack thrust into him, he still held himself back. What followed was something he regretted almost as soon as it came out of his mouth.

“Who said you had the right to claim me?” He gritted out with a challenging gaze. But all looks of confidence drained in an instant when he saw the look on Jack’s face above him. Before he could even try to take back what he had said, Jack’s hands were around his throat, using it as leverage to continue slamming his hips into him. “Who said you had the friggin’ _right_ to talk back to me?”

This was where Rhys really questioned his sanity for a split second. Because if Jack had done this any other time, he would be shitting himself in fear that he would strangle him to death. But now that he was doing it while giving Rhys the best fuck of his life? It turned him on way more than he wanted to admit. And Jack clearly saw that, letting out a dark chuckle and letting one hand fall to wrap around the younger man’s length. He stroked him relentlessly, meanwhile his other hand was still locked tight around his throat, pressing against his windpipe just enough to make breathing a real challenge for him.

Two pairs of mismatched eyes met each other, just gazing at each other while they both continued to pant. Rhys could see the sweat collecting along Jack’s hairline and random veins popping out from under his neck. He seriously wasn’t going easy on Rhys and that just made it clearer to him. Now, if only he could just- _shit_!

In response to a shift of Jack’s hips, a shock of pleasure ran all the way up his body. A scream ripped from his throat, leaving it feeling completely raw. Through half-lidded eyes, he could see Jack smirking above him before continuing to thrust into that same exact spoooot, holy shit. Rhys was seeing stars, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the intense pleasure or the fact that Jack’s hand was still wrapped around his throat. All he knew was that he was getting close insanely quick.

Soon, Jack leaned down, the hand that was around his throat now splaying out over the table beside his head to keep himself propped up while he started his assault on Rhys’ already red throat. Or, well, whatever skin wasn’t covered by his belt.

“You gonna cum for daddy, kitten?” Jack cooed against his skin, eyes flickering up to watch him with arched eyebrows. All Rhys could do was nod and moan out shamelessly. Fuck, hearing him call himself that was way too hot for him to handle. But that seemed to be a good enough answer for Jack, seeing as the grip around his cock tightened and quickened, his hips following quickly after. How that man still had enough stamina to go even quicker and _harder_ was beyond him.

All it took was a couple more harsh thrusts and a thumb swiped over the tip of his cock and Rhys became undone, arching his back up from the table and screaming out Jack’s name without a single care of who heard him.

***

“Jack!”

Hearing his name screamed out in pleasure like that and watching Rhys spill his seed all over his stomach and Jack’s fingers, it was all more than enough to push him over the edge as well. A couple particularly rough thrusts followed before slamming into him one last time and letting out a growl of Rhys’ name, filling him up as he bit down into his shoulder. The kid yelped underneath him but he couldn’t give two shits at the moment. He stayed in place until he was sure the bite mark would leave a nice looking bruise later on.

Reluctantly, he began to pry himself off of Rhys’ body after fully riding out his orgasm, pulling out from him but not pulling away from him completely. Instead, his hands propped up on either side of the kid’s head, taking a long moment to admire him. His flushed face that was damp from sweat, his heavy lidded eyes, the marks that were scattered all over his skin, the dried blood on his lip from where he bit down too hard...it was the perfect image to him.

Before he could even think about it, he was just staring down at him with a small, but very much genuine smile on his face.

_Damn, what’s this kid doing to me?_


	7. Eden-5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Jack finally get into Eden-5. But power hungry Jack makes their plans a bit more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank you all so much for the love from the last chapter. I'm still gonna try to stick to my one chapter a day schedule but it's slowing down a bit now, so it may change to a chapter every couple days <3

“Daddy? Really?”

“I’m old enough to be your daddy anyway, kid. You don’t make fun of my little kinks and I won’t make fun of your thing with being called a...ohhhhh, what’s the word again? A slut? A slut, right, Rhysie?”

“...Shut up.”

“And that’s another bone I get to break.” The response was coupled with a playful tug to the belt still around Rhys’ neck, which was then removed soon after.

Any other time, Rhys would be mildly disturbed by the comment. But he was in too much of a state of bliss to even care at the moment.

After they had their... _fun_ , Rhys was fucking exhausted. Everything hurt to move and his voice was so hoarse that he could barely even speak but still, all he really felt was bliss. He had just got fucked by _the_ Handsome goddamn Jack. The same Handsome Jack who wordlessly decided to carry him over to the bed where they were now laying, with Jack lazily stroking his fingers over each mark he had made on Rhys’ skin. The bastard seemed damn proud of himself.

“Nakayama and Weiss knew each other.” Jack murmured from beside him, though he seemed to be more focused on on the marks rather than talking. “They were in this together, this was their plan all along.” With his free hand, he gestured to his body. “Nakayama made the AI while Weiss kept my friggin’ body in a freezer. Looks like Nakayama died before they were able to complete their geeeeeenius plan.” Jack merely offered an exaggerated eye roll before rolling over onto his back, his arms folding back behind his head.

“Why would Weiss want to kill you then? I mean...he told me he put in...y’know, new organs and shit and everything to make sure you would live once the AI was installed. Did you scare him shitless or something?” None of it made sense. Granted, the science didn’t make much sense to him either. He majored in all things math and tech-y in school, science was his worst subject.

Jack just shrugged and stared up at the ceiling, seemingly contemplating something. There was a moment of hesitation but Rhys finally made the first move and scooted over towards him. With his arm draped over Jack’s midsection, Rhys lowered his head down to rest over his chest. It was an intimate gesture but...something about it just felt normal.

“You really shouldn’t trust me, kid.” Jack uttered above him, making Rhys’ eyebrows furrow and look up at him in confusion. “I mean it. One wrong word out of your mouth and I could have easily snapped your neck right then and there.” The blunt truth made a shiver run up Rhys’ spine. Jack had a point. He had his hands around his neck towards the end there and it should have scared him. But it didn’t. He had loved it. He wanted more of it. But that wasn’t the point right now.

“You know why I trusted you, Jack?”

“’Cause you were desperate for a good fuck?”

“No, asshole.” It was Rhys’ turn to roll his eyes this time. Sitting up straight beside Jack’s side, he stared down at him. He didn’t see the murderous man from days ago. He saw a man watching him with almost...admiration, absentmindedly stroking Rhys’ knee when he shifted his position.

“I trusted you...because you could have killed me back in the cave. Twice. But you didn’t.”

“I told you it was because I would be a jackass if I killed someone who saved my life, kid.”

“But see, I don’t believe that. You’ve always been a jackass and made shitty decisions like that...y’know, no offense. But the point is, you spared me and...and I don’t know.” Rhys wasn’t entirely sure if he had a valid point or not. Because to be honest, he knew he really had no real reason to trust him. Jack is a cold blooded murderer and Rhys knew that. He knew what he was getting himself into when he brought him back, he knew the risks and every possible thing that could happen. But he still did it.

He felt Jack’s eyes boring into him as he awkwardly shrugged. When Rhys turned to look at him, he let out a very unmanly squeak as he was suddenly grabbed by the back of his head and pulled down into a deep kiss.

It made his heart flutter for some reason. However, the intimate moment didn’t last long.

“Handsome Jack, sir? The rocket is-oh my god, I-I-I’m so sorry.”

“What the hell do you want?!”

It was the first time Rhys had heard Jack actually yell ever since getting back into his body. It was no longer distorted by the hologram. It was loud, his voice laced with unspoken threats. It was...chilling. Far more terrifying than Rhys had ever expected. He scrambled off of the older man in a split second, awkwardly trying to find the closest object to cover up his lower half. However, Jack seemed too annoyed to care about his own nudity.

“I-I’m sorry, sir. The...t-the rocket is ready to go, w-whenever you’re ready.” The poor girl seemed just as terrified as Rhys felt. For a moment there, he had forgotten about Jack’s infamous mood swings. It made him immediately put up an invisible wall around himself, just in case the man ended up lashing out at him as well.

To his surprise, Jack merely grumbled to himself about shitty timing and waved the woman off with a flick of his wrist. He wasn’t really sure what he had expected. He just didn’t expect him to let her go so...easily?

“Guess that’s our cue, kiddo. Let’s pack up and go.” Jack moved himself off of the bed and buttoned up his pants before going over to the rest of the clothes. Meanwhile, Rhys just watched in slight shock. Jack was acting as if...nothing ever happened. As if he didn’t just scream at some poor girl and as if he wasn’t just balls deep in Rhys’ ass half an hour ago.

“Chop, chop, kid. C’mon, what’s the hold up? The irritation in Jack’s voice was enough to leave Rhys grumbling and glaring at the older man in silence the rest of their time on Elpis.

***

“We have to be tactful about this, okay? People probably still think you’re dead so just busting into the HQ is-aaaaand I’m talking to no one.”

Rhys rubbed at the side of his face with a loud groan as he saw Jack heading up to the large double doors that were pretty heavily guarded. He acted like it was nothing and it frustrated the hell out of Rhys.

They had gotten into Eden-5 just an hour earlier. Thankfully, it wasn’t much of a crash landing as it was on Elpis, mainly because Jack was able to take over when Rhys started panicking about what would happen when they got there. However, they still barely spoke to each other ever since what happened in Concordia. Rhys was still mildly pissed. But he wasn’t sure what or who exactly he was pissed at. He couldn’t be pissed at the girl, though without her interruption, they may have been able to relax a bit longer. Maybe he really was just pissed at Jack, but he also knew that his mood swings were just part of who he was and there really wasn’t much he could change about that.

“Sorry, sir, only Hyperion employees have permission to...holy shit.” Upon hearing the reactions from one of the guards, Rhys hurried to catch up to Jack before he ended up doing something stupid. The last thing they needed was a big, unnecessary massacre _right_ as they entered Eden-5.

“Yes, I know it’s startling to see a god in person, but let’s get straight to this, bud. Me and my assistant here,” Rhys’ eye twitched in annoyance at the complete demotion he had just received. Oh yeah, they’d rule Hyperion together and-nope, it’s the king and his goddamn assistant. “need to get inside and reclaim my place in Hyperion. Got it? If not, I’m sure the psycho camp nearby would just love to feast on you fucks for dinner.” The cockiness in Jack’s voice faded to one far more dark and challenging. Rhys could have sworn he saw the guards physically shaking.

“Y...You’re supposed to be dead. Handsome Jack was killed by-” Before Rhys could even notice the pistol withdrawing from Jack’s holster, the loud sound of a gunshot ran through the air, followed by the body of the guard falling to the ground with an almost sickening ‘thud’.

“ _Jack!_ ” Rhys yelled out in disbelief, but the older man continued on, this time pointing his pistol to the other guard who was staring at the dead body with a mortified look on his face.

“Gonna let us in or do you wanna join your little friend here, bud?” Hurriedly, the rest of the terrified guards rushed to open the doors while Jack offered a pleased sound and tucked his pistol back into its holster. When Rhys got up to his side, it took everything he had not to lash out at the man for murdering some innocent guy. Instead, he just hissed under his breath. “I should confiscate your gun.”

Jack simply turned to face him with his hands placed over his hips. It was a familiar stance, one seen in countless posters of him throughout the years. But seeing it in person, it made Rhys feel small and meek, instantly regretting his decision to say anything. The ‘Try me’ look Jack gave him didn’t help the feeling at all. His pride and stubbornness, however, didn’t let him be controlled so easily.

While the guards were busy opening up the doors, Rhys’ hand shot out, his pale fingertips just barely grazing against the grip of the pistol before his wrist was captured in a bruising hold. There was a moment of hesitation before Rhys gathered up the courage to glance at Jack’s face and boy, he regretted that too. The man’s jaw was clenched, eyes narrowed into a glare that made him worry for a second if the ‘if looks could kill’ saying could be true.

Without letting go of his wrist, Jack growled so low that only Rhys could hear him. “Know your place, _Rhys_.”

***

“Fucking Jack, being a fucking asshole, fucking all of our fucking plans up...” Rhys continued to grumble to himself as he rotated his new cybernetic arm, testing to make sure everything was working properly. After their short stand off outside of the HQ, Jack had just stuffed a wad of cash into his pocket and told -more like demanded- him to go get himself a new arm already and use the rest of the cash to get them some decent food. At first, Rhys had been surprised and even slightly touched at the gesture despite what had just happened. Then he realized why Jack was doing it.

Rhys was stopping him from being as violent as he wanted to be. He fucking sent him off so he could do whatever he wanted without Rhys getting in the way.

“Holy shit.” Rhys whispered as he took a single step into the headquarters. He hadn’t been gone _that_ long but he could already count three other dead bodies right as he got in. He had to force himself to look away, at anything else, so he wouldn’t get sick to his stomach.

“R-R-Right this way, s-sir.” It took Rhys a minute to realize one of the guards was talking to him. Him? Sir? He may have probably been demoted to Jack’s assistant but he could learn to deal with that if that’s the kind of respect he got. Rhys only nodded and followed after the meek looking man. And he couldn’t help but glance towards the bodies as he walked past them, his stomach automatically turning. But it wasn’t from what he saw. It was from the words that echoed in his head.

_”You really shouldn’t trust me, kid.”_

Maybe he was right. Just judging by Jack’s reaction to almost taking his gun, trusting him may not be the safest thing to do at the moment. One quick look at the faint bruises around his wrist was enough to make him decide to put his walls up again. He hated doing it. He didn’t want to. Not after their heated night together, not after trusting Jack before all of this...he wanted to keep trusting him. But he couldn’t if he was positive it would put his life in danger at this point.

Before he knew it, they were standing in front of a large door with ‘CEO’ written in big, black letters. It made Rhys’ stomach drop for some reason. Jack was back to where he belonged. Partially, at least. He knew Jack would prefer to have his old office on Helios but that wouldn’t happen until much further into the future. So, this would have to do for now.

Looking around, the guard had already scurried off and left Rhys to handle Jack all on his own. With a deep breath, he gathered up whatever courage he still had left to twist the doorknob and open up the door. He kept his eyes downcast for the time being, only raising them to look around the room once shutting the door behind him.

“’Ey there, kiddo. You listened to me and got a new arm. What is that, chrome? Hah, nice.” Jack was sitting back in a chair that seemed twice his size, his feet casually propped up onto the desk in front of him. He seemed so relaxed and...at home, somehow. He was in his place. And apparently, so was Rhys.

“Here’s your food.” Rhys didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until his voice came out in more of a frustrated sigh. In an instant, he pursed them shut. Walls, Rhys. Keep them up. Don’t do anything to agitate him. His legs almost felt numb as he started walking up to where Jack sat at the desk. It felt like déjà vu. It was just like the first time he met Jack way back then. Walking up to him with a report in his hands because Henderson was too busy to do it himself. It was the first time he had been with Jack face to face, any other times had been just seeing him walking around Helios looking like a god.

Just as Rhys put down the bag containing food from a nearby market and a couple drinks, he was stopped by a hand capturing his own. His first reaction was to try to pull it back, but Jack’s hold was firm. Awkwardly, he glanced up to try to figure out what exactly he was doing. It was then that he noticed Jack’s heterochromatic eyes glued to the faint bruises along his wrist. Neither of them spoke nor did they move an inch for a long moment before Jack let his hand go with a heavy sigh.

“I did that to you, didn’t I?” With a hand rubbing at the side of his face, Jack leaned back into his chair once more, his emotions completely unreadable. Rhys wanted to lie and say he didn’t, wanted to say it was from their night together in Concordia. But Jack was smarter than that. He knew.

“Yeah.” Was all he could say. What else was he supposed to say? _Yeah, you bruised me the fuck up and it made me put up my walls around you again, thanks for that._ Really, he couldn’t say that. He wasn’t that much of an asshole...usually, at least.

“The only bruises I should be giving you are the ones around your neck.” The response was murmured so low that Rhys was questioning whether or not he even heard it. But the lazy gesture towards his throat proved that he wasn’t going crazy. The comment brought a deep, uncontrollable blush to Rhys’ cheeks. Thoughts of their night together filled his mind, the belt around his neck, Jack’s hands around his neck that he almost wished would never leave...funny how one incident can change that. He went from being afraid of Jack’s hands on him, to loving his hands on him to being mildly afraid again.

But upon seeing his blush, Jack laughed. A hearty laugh that almost took Rhys by surprise. “What...” He began, but shut his mouth once Jack got up from his chair and made his way over to him. He instantly tensed up when he got up to him, their noses just centimeters away from each other. But when the pad of Jack’s thumb brushed along what Rhys assumed to be a bruise on his throat, he relaxed. The touch was so gentle, to the point where he barely felt it was there.

“Funny...” Jack began, his voice a mere soft murmur as he continued to brush his calloused fingers over each mark on his neck. “I have no trouble killing, cupcake. Hell, I love it. Love seeing the life drain from their eyes. But...you? Just giving you a few bruises on your wrist that you didn’t ask for...I don’t know. I don’t like it. I don’t know why I don’t like it.”

“...Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“When you said that you didn’t feel anything...that I was pretty much the closest thing you could fuck.”

Jack went silent. But his fingers continued, traveling their way up Rhys’ throat until his thumb and forefinger took a hold of his chin, moving his head to look straight at him. His eyes looked conflicted while they searched Rhys’, seeming to somehow be looking for the answer in them. But he gave up, offering him a small, almost unsure smile instead. “I don’t think so, kid.”

Though it wasn’t a clear answer, it still made Rhys’ heart flutter. The fact that Jack didn’t clearly say that he really didn’t feel anything was good enough for him. In the heat of the moment, Rhys leaned forward and pressed his chapped lips to Jack’s masked ones. It was soft, not completely heated like the others have been. And this time, Jack’s hand came up to tangle into his hair but only to hold him close. They didn’t tug, they didn’t scratch, they didn’t try to tear each other’s clothes off. They just stood there, one of Rhys’ hands against Jack’s chest and one of Jack’s hands in his hair, their lips slowly moving together in synch.

“C’mon, princess.” Jack mumbled against his lips, but he really didn’t want to pull away. He was enjoying their moment far too much to want it to end so soon. Unfortunately, Jack ended up forcing him away, Rhys following him forward with a soft whine. Wait. Did he seriously just whine? All because Jack pulled away? What in the fuck was wrong with him?

“We’ve got work to do, kid. As much as I’d love to keep kissing you and eventually fuck you over the desk while you scream my name...there’s a lot we need to catch up on.”

“W-We?”

“We. Let’s show Hyperion that their two new presidents mean business.”


	8. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being the presidents of Hyperion was far more stressful than Rhys had realized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates for this may get a bit more slow. But mainly because I'm in the process of working on a new Rhack story! If it all goes according to plan, it shouuuuld be out by the end of the week but I'm not sure. I hope you all enjoy this chapter though, and thank you so much for the support!

Needless to say, Rhys was pretty taken aback by the fact that they were _both_ going to be Hyperion’s presidents. 

_”Excuse me?!”_

_“Did you really think you were just going to be my assistant? I made a promise that we were going to rule together, kid. And I intend on keeping it.”_

But fuck, he’s wishing he was just an assistant now.

“Did you check these over, kiddo?”

“Uh...” Rhys just stared at the papers Jack had passed to him from across the desk. It was something about a new elemental gun that needed approval to go forward. But...there were also two other requests for approval that were very similar to that one. So, he ended up flipping through the countless pages of the paperwork to find where the signature was needed.

Oops.

“Uh...no...sorry.” Rhys mumbled with a sheepish dip of his head forward, robotic fingers stretching out to grab the pen and put down his signature hurriedly. 

“It was in the pile of approved paperwork. Look at these things before you start putting them into their piles, will ya?” The annoyance in Jack’s voice caused Rhys’ eyes to narrow as he looked up at him.

“You could’ve signed it yourself too, you know.”

“I needed to point out your mistakes so you would stop friggin’ making them.”

“I haven’t had any sleep, Jack! I’ve been sitting here staring at paperwork ever since I got in here!”

“Are you serious, kid? No one is forcing you to stay. It’s not my fault if you’re too careless to look after yourself.”

Rhys opened his mouth to retort but shut it soon after. Jack had a point. The man hadn’t said that he needed to do all of the paperwork with him. Rhys just...did it. He assumed that he needed to do it until it was all done. But looking at the still massive pile of unread papers on the corner of the desk...there was no way it could be done in one day. 

“Go. I can handle this.” Despite Jack’s comment, the older man definitely seemed tense. And it annoyed the hell out of him. Why was Jack allowed to be so stubborn but Rhys wasn’t?

“Tell me your dream for Hyperion. And Pandora.” Damn right he was gonna be stubborn too. Rhys folded his arms over the empty part of the desk in front of him and rested his head over his bare arm, making a mental note to buy a new jacket at some point.

“Go to sleep, stubborn little shit.” Jack grumbled under his breath but didn’t look up from the paperwork in front of him. When Rhys didn’t make any attempts to move, he just sighed and decided to answer the question.

***

“You know what my dream for Pandora is, kid. I made sure all of friggin’ Helios knew. I was gonna save that place. Before the _fucking_ bandits stepped in and decided to take me out.”

“You can still save it.”

“Hyperion is in too much of a shit hole for me to do that anytime soon, cupcake. First, we’re gonna get Hyperion back on track. Have you seen the posters and ads about Hyperion products lately? All of the companies are making fun of us now, saying how they’re all better. Maliwan is the top weapon’s manufacturer right now and it’s pissing me off. I mean, I haven’t even been gone for that long. That’s why we need to approve all of the elemental weapon requests, we gotta beat ‘em at their own game, kid.

“Anyway...once we get back on top and we’re pretty stable, _then_ I’ll focus on Pandora. It’s gone to shit just as much as Hyperion has, if not worse. We’ll be the heroes, princess. We’ll save that shitty planet and so help me, if any bandits try to lay a fucking finger on you, I’ll tear their throats out with my bare hands and feed them to the psychos and skags.” 

The last part came out before Jack could realize what he was saying. But once he did realize, his lips pursed shut. He was about to tell Rhys to forget about what he just said, but when his mismatched eyes landed on the kid, he just blinked.

The kid...fell asleep...at the desk.

“You must seriously be tired, kid.” A soft laugh spilled from his lips as he set down his pen and got up from his chair. As...oddly cute as it was to see him falling asleep at the desk, he just knew the kid would whine and complain about being sore when he woke up. “C’mon, princess.” He uttered as he leaned down to hook one hand under Rhys’ knees, the other tucked firmly behind his back. It took him a moment to get the proper footing so he wouldn’t completely throw out his back. Damn getting older.

With a loud grunt, Jack swept the younger man up into his hold, staggering for a moment before quickly regaining his balance. How had he been so easy to pick up last time? Maybe it was the adrenaline from fucking him senseless just minutes before. Now? The kid felt 50 pounds heavier and it was already killing him. But he pushed through, slowly making his way over to a large couch pressed back against one of the walls. Note to self, get themselves a place to stay so they didn’t have to live in the damn office.

As he carefully set Rhys’ still sleeping form down on the couch, he blinked at the thought. Did he just automatically say ‘themselves’ a place to stay? As is...both of them living in one place. Together. Yeah, it was pretty normal after being in his head for so long and traveling together but now, he had a choice. And he seemed to choose to...stick with the kid. He groaned out at the realization that he was in far too deep with this kid, his hands coming up to comb through his hair angrily. He couldn’t get attached. He wouldn’t allow himself to get attached.

Stalking over to the window behind the desk that looked over the rest of the city, Jack just stared. His jaw was tense, memories flooding his head that he would much rather completely forget. His wife...both of them...Angel...it was a pattern. A sick, cruel pattern in his life.

“I lose everyone I get attached to.”

***

_”Jack, please...you don’t have to do this.”_

_“Beg some more, kid. I love hearing ‘em beg before I put a bullet right through their skull.”_

_Rhys was quite literally begging on his knees. His mind was fuzzy. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to make Jack snap. Maybe he just realized he couldn’t share the fame. All he knew was that hot tears were running down his cheeks, mismatched eyes gazing up at the barrel of Jack’s pistol pressed right between his eyes. The older man just had this...crazed, maniacal grin on his face, his eyes wide and unsettlingly excited._

_“Beg, Rhysie. Beg for your fuckin’ life.”_

_All Rhys could do was squeeze his eyes shut and breathe out a slow sigh. No matter how much he begged, Jack was going to kill him. There was no doubt about it. So, he might as well just let out what he had kept locked inside for so long._

_“I love you, Jack.”_

Just as the gunshot ran through the air, Rhys shot up from the couch, a loud, almost ear piercing scream tearing from his throat.

“Jack!”

He could have sworn the sound of the gunshot was still ringing in his ears, even as the dream started to fade around him and allow him to come back to reality. He was still in the office, but...on the couch? How did he get there? And why was Jack’s jacket covering him?

As if on cue, said older man rushed over to Rhys in an instant, kneeling down beside him and uncharacteristically holding on to his hand. His grip was tight and he could have sworn there was a flash of concern in those heterochromatic eyes before the man easily hid it, his hand dropping from Rhys’ soon after. Rhys missed the touch and his fingers itched to reach out and grab his hand again but they stayed put, not wanting to seem too needy.

Jack stood and straightened himself back out, thick arms crossing over his chest. “What happened, kid?” Rhys fought the urge to frown at the sudden change in his mood. He had just looked so worried and now...he barely even seemed to care.

“Just...bad dream. I guess.” He was about to ask what the hell was going on with him until he noticed the slight droop of his eyelids. It took him all he had not to sigh out in relief. Jack was just tired. That’s all it was. “Thank you...for this.” He awkwardly lifted up Jack’s leather jacket before offering it back to him. It was snatched up in an instant, with Jack turning on his heel soon after and sauntering back to the desk while he went over the long list of what still need to be done.

“We have to get the rest of the paperwork done today, tomorrow we meet with the corporate assholes, then we make our official announcement that we’re the new...well, new and old, presidents. And once we have everyone following us, we’ll gather up a team to start working on the new and improved Helios. You got all that, cupcake?” 

Rhys was just staring at him, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes while also trying to process all the information Jack just gave him. Okay, paperwork, meeting...or was it meeting and then paperwork? Either way, Rhys gave the man a small nod and a ‘yes’ before he could realize he didn’t fully understand. Jack was completely sleep deprived and he didn’t know how safe it was around him, so it was best that he just play it safe for the time being until Jack gets some actual sleep.

“Get to work then.” Jack’s voice was curt, far different from what it had been before. Had he missed something? Did something happen while he was asleep? Was this just Jack being sleep deprived or was there something else going on? The questions just continued to swim through his head as he numbly got back up to his feet and followed after Jack like a lost puppy. It was a natural reaction, to follow him so...obediently? The man was practically a god, anyone would be a fool not to do everything he says.

Once Jack sat back in his chair, he gestured to the one across the table that Rhys had been sitting in before. But he said nothing. All he did was bury himself back into the papers in front of him. Rhys was pleasantly surprised. The unread pile had reduced by half while he was asleep, meaning they should be able to finish up with everything before it got dark. Speaking of...

Rhys took a quick, squinted glance out the window. Looked to be around noon. Had he really been asleep all night? He was about to thank him for doing so much work before he was rather _rudely_ interrupted by a large hand slamming down on the desk, followed by a low, impatient hiss.

“Get to _work_.”

Rhys nearly snarled in irritation. What the hell was Jack’s problem? He had clearly been kind enough to bring Rhys to the couch to sleep, they shared a more meaningful kiss...and now he’s gone back to this. It was getting hard for him to figure out who the real Jack really was. Was it the weirdly caring man that he had just now started to see? Or was it the asshole in front of him right now? Either way, he would contemplate it more later. Despite being a dick about it, they really did need to get the work done. Crazy how no one ever really did this stuff while Jack was gone. That’s probably why Hyperion went to shit.

Hours passed. 5, to be exact. By the time they were done, Rhys was starving and devouring the other half of his sandwich that he had gotten the day before. Meanwhile, Jack ordered their PA to get him something...way too fancy sounding for Rhys to even be comfortable eating it. He would have to get used to this, won’t he? Having such a large supply of money, being able to get himself whatever he wants and even all of the fancy shit that he used to mock when he was still working on Helios. 

Just as Rhys finished up his sandwich, Rhys called their PA once more. This time, with a mouth full of food, which made Rhys want to cringe.

“Hey, Jane. My favorite assistant that I haven’t wanted to kill yet!”

“I-It’s Jill...yes, sir?”

“Hah! Jack and Jill! Get it? Get it? Anyway, I need you to find us the best apartment within a few miles of here. Good view, but I’m not feeling too picky.”

“J-Just one apartment, sir? Um...two...bedrooms, yes?”

“Nah, one will do. Make sure it’s fit for a king. _The_ king. And if someone is living there, kick ‘em out or tell ‘em to take it up with me.”

“I-I-I’ll get right on that, sir.”

The call ended with an audible ‘click’.

And Rhys just gaped at him.

“One bedroom?” He asked incredulously. First, he thinks, no, he knows Jack hates him. Then he thinks he may kind of like him, then it’s back to thinking that he dislikes him. This was all too much for Rhys to stand.

“Yeah, one. What, you got a problem with that, kid? Don’t like sharing a bed?” Jack was challenging him again and he was way too pissed to even care.

“Yeah, I have a fucking problem with it. What the hell am I to you, Jack? You’re constantly going from being close to me to just completely ignoring me and being a dick to me. After everything you’ve done today, you’re telling me we’re sharing a bed, when you could very easily get a place where we _wouldn’t_ have to do that.”

“Keep questioning me and I’ll gladly put a bullet between your eyes, kid.”

All of the color drained from Rhys’ face. Thoughts of the dream came flooding back into his mind and all he could think about was Jack standing in front of him with his pistol pressed against his skin, begging him not to kill him. He sunk back into his chair and stared off at the wall with a distant gaze, his flesh hand trembling against his leg while his robotic one clutched at the fabric of his pants. He felt sick. No, no, he couldn’t be having a panic attack. He can’t, he can’t...

“Rhys? Rhys!” When Rhys snapped out of it, Jack was leaning down right in front of him with his hands gripping his shoulders. His automatic reaction was to lift his hands, pressing them against Jack’s chest and pushing him back so he could scramble up onto his feet and put a good amount of distance between them. And then he just watched, watched with wide, panicked eyes.

“What the hell was that, kid?” It was Jack’s turn to stare at him in disbelief. The man attempted to take a step towards him but Rhys just shook his head violently and wrapped his arms around himself like that would somehow protect him. In Jack’s eyes, he saw something click, followed by a much more gentle, calming tone. “Is this about that dream? Tell me what happened, kid. Help me understand, I can’t do shit if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Rhys hesitated for a long moment. He still didn’t trust Jack, not at the moment, at least. But he was far too panicked to keep anything inside anymore. “Y-You had a gun to my head, you were telling me to beg for my life, that you loved it, and I-I just kept begging until I said I l-” Rhys promptly pressed his lips together to keep himself from finishing the rest of the sentence. No, he wasn’t gonna do that. He wouldn’t tell him what he said. But he continued on anyway. “Why would you do something like that, Jack? I know it was just a dream and all but you really would do it, wouldn’t you? You...you would kill me without hesitation. Even after everything we’ve gone through, after everything we’ve done, everything we’ve said to each other...” Rhys’ voice trailed off into a soft whisper by the time he was finished, blinking rapidly and suddenly feeling a wetness against his cheek. He...was crying? He hadn’t even noticed.

Before he knew it, Jack was coming up to him again. And before he could try to get away, one hand clasped down onto his shoulder, the other cupping his now damp cheek. Rhys had squeezed his eyes when he saw Jack’s hand coming towards him, but they opened to stare at him in confusion when the touch was far different than he had thought. It was gentle, as if he was almost afraid of hurting him. The hand on his shoulder wasn’t bruising, it was just firm enough to break him out of his panicked state and back into reality. 

“What do you feel for me, Jack?” The question was honest and blunt. He couldn’t stop thinking about it all day and it was making him go crazy. So, he just stared at him with watery, pleading eyes. He needed a straight answer.

“Kid.” Jack’s voice was firm but his thumb was stroking against his cheek in the most featherlight way. He was conflicted, Rhys could see that in his eyes. But he wasn’t going to take it. Boldly, he stepped froward, wordlessly pressing his chest to the older man’s. In an instant, the hand that was on his shoulder dropped to wrap a strong arm around Rhys’ thin waist with a slow sigh. 

“You don’t understand, kid.”

“ _Help me understand._ ”

“Everyone I care about dies.”

It was hissed out, almost pouring with venom as Jack’s hand grabbed onto the back of Rhys’ vest. Rhys was about to offer a soft apology but Jack ignored him and continued on. This time, he wasn’t mad about it.

“I mean it when I say everyone, kid. Even my own...goddamn daughter. I’m constantly betrayed and losing everyone I get attached to. Do you have any idea what that’s like?” Rhys shook his head with a quiet ‘no’. Not to the extent that Jack was talking about. “So, when you come into my life, what am I supposed to do? Originally, you were just a pain in my friggin’ ass and I wanted to get rid of you as soon as possible. Now, I just...I don’t fucking know, okay? I keep looking at you and thinking ‘He’s a cute little shit’. I keep feeling the itch to go over and completely wreck you until you can’t scream anymore. And at the same time, I keep...wanting to look after you and make sure you’re okay. I don’t like the thought of anything seriously bad happening to you. I don’t...know what I would do if you weren’t here.”

Rhys just stood there and listened, letting Jack spill everything he wanted to spill. He had never seen Jack so honest with him, it was...nice. But suddenly, Jack’s conflicted eyes turned more serious. The hand cupping his cheek moved forward, tangling itself into Rhys’ copper colored locks as he leaned forward until their lips were just ghosting against each other.

“You wanna know how I feel about ya, kid?”

Before Rhys had a chance to reply, his lips were covered by a now familiar pair of masked ones. They kissed. They kissed hungrily, as if all of their emotions were being poured into it. In his daze, Rhys just barely registered the clothes falling to the floor, the hands grabbing at each other, the hand against the back of his head as he was carefully lowered back onto the free space on the desk. Before he knew it, their bodies were rocking against each other. Their foreheads were pressed against each other, both men panting and grabbing at each other as their movements grew more desperate.

The whole time, words were never spoken. They didn’t need them. Even as they both got closer, Jack suddenly burying his head into the crook of Rhys’ neck as he let out a guttural moan of his name, Rhys following close behind him with a whimper of his own name. 

No, they didn’t need words. As they were both clutching onto each other, completely wrapped up in each other, they knew. They knew well. 

Jack loved him.

_Rhys loved him._


	9. First Date Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rhys and Jack take their first shopping trip together as a 'couple'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while to update this, but hopefully this chapter will be worth it! 
> 
> Unbeta'd because it's late and I just wanted to get this out as quick as possible.
> 
>  
> 
> PS. Be prepared for complete shameless smut in the next chapter.

It was a couple days after their heated night together in the office and Rhys was happier than ever. Though they didn’t really talk about it, they were closer. Jack had stopped brushing Rhys off all the time and was now more affectionate with him. During one of their meetings the next day, Jack had gotten up to take a minute to massage Rhys’ shoulders. The term ‘corporate assholes’ fit perfectly. They all questioned their motives, talked back to them, made snarky comments. It took all of Rhys’ strength to hold Jack back and keep him from murdering everyone sitting at the table. Just doing that completely tired him out. And Jack seemed to notice.

“You know, you could just let me kill ‘em if this tires you out so much.” Jack had teased with a light squeeze to his shoulders. 

“Fiiiiiiine, I may just have to let you.” Rhys responded with an exaggerated sigh, causing Jack to gaze down at him with an amused grin on his face.

Needless to say, the rest of that meeting was more...bloody. To Rhys’ surprise, he was almost...getting used to it. He still didn’t really approve of Jack’s method of dealing with things, but he didn’t freak out about it anymore. It was just the way Jack worked, he couldn’t change that.

And now, they were laying back in _their_ bed. Rhys had pulled up a couple videos to entertain themselves while they came down from their post-orgasm high. While they watched the second video, which was just titled ‘Handsome Jack’s best moments’, said Handsome Jack began to whisper sweet nothings into his ear. It made Rhys’ heart pound against his chest as he tried to hold back the grin that threatened to form.

“You’re so good.” Jack started, his calloused fingers lazily stroking over Rhys’ collarbone. “You have no idea what you do to me. When I catch you staring and smiling at me. Ugh, that stupid little smile, I hate how much I love it. I love that blush you get when I catch ya though. You blush at everything, you know that, princess?”

“Shut up.” Rhys mumbled shyly as he felt his face begin to heat up, only proving Jack’s point and making the older man burst out into laughter. With his free hand, he reached over to pinch at Jack’s side. But the man merely grabbed his hand and lifted it up to his lips, pressing a couple soft pecks to his knuckles.

Suddenly, the screen that was projecting the videos from his palm began to shift, now showing a picture of him and Vaughn that he had taken back in high school. Underneath was ‘Bro calling!’ in big letters. Shit, he had completely forgot to call Vaughn the past few days. He was about to excuse himself to take the video call but Jack just silently grabbed him and forced him closer, giving Rhys no choice but to rest his head on broad chest. Hairs tickled his nose, making it scrunch up. Despite the nervous feeling that started to come over him, Rhys reluctantly accepted the call. How the hell was Vaughn gonna react to seeing the two of them together like this?

“Hey, bro! You haven’t called in a while and I heard the announcement that you and Jack were-whoaaaaa, whoa, no! No! No!” Rhys watched, cringing as Vaughn’s hands flew up to his face, turning his chair away from the screen so he didn’t have to see the two of them. “Seriously?! With him?!”

“Well...y’know, you _did_ tell me to...”

“Hey, little man! You still got that killer bod? Gotta say, I was pretty freaked out when I first saw ya. No offense and all but yeah, it’s weird. Just weird.” Rhys desperately wanted to smack him and tell him to shut up. But he knew that would only encourage the asshole.

“H-How long...how...why...huh...” Neither of them could see Vaughn, but Rhys knew he was having a mini freak out.

“Well, you see,” Jack started, making Rhys open his mouth to stop him before a large hand clamped over it, shutting him up in an instant. The younger man just glared at him and huffed against Jack’s palm. “It all started when me and Rhysie here were drunk and I could really tell he wanted my dick, y’know? But I’m not the kind of person to take advantage of someone when they’re drunk like that. I know, shocking, right? But anyway, the kid eventually came around and we had some pretty damn good sex. And we’ve been fucking pretty much every day since then. He’s a total freak in bed.” Jack glanced down at Rhys with a sly smirk, which only made Rhys glare harder before focusing on the video call.

Vaughn was completely silent and nothing was moving on the screen, making Rhys worry for a second that it completely froze. But soon, he heard an all too familiar voice off screen.

“Glad you’re happy and all Rhys but I’m pretty sure you just traumatized Vaughn.”

“I didn’t do it, Sash!” Was his muffled response, clawing at Jack’s wrist with his human hand. With a snicker, the older man dropped his hand from Rhys’ mouth. The fucker just seemed soooooo pleased with himself. “It was Jack! Vaugh, buddy...bro...are you okay?”

“I think I’m gonna vomit.” As he said that, he slowly turned the chair back around to face the screen. Even Rhys could tell that all of the color was drained from his face. He really did look like he was gonna puke. 

“And I’m gonna get ready for our date, pumpkin.” Jack’s head dipped down to capture Rhys’ lips in a gentle, short-lived kiss before untangling himself from the skinnier man and getting up from the far too comfortable bed. Rhys spared a glance at Jack’s backside as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door before forcing his focus back on Vaughn with a sheepish smile. 

And to his surprise, despite still looking sick to his stomach, Vaughn was smiling too. “I don’t understand it at all. How the psychotic Handsome Jack is being all sweet and shit with you...but you look happy, Rhys.” Rhys was about to smile and thank Vaughn for his support before the man on the other side of the screen continued.

“But if he hurts you, I’ll rip of his dick and feed it to the skags myself.”

***

“When was the last time you did this?”

“It...hell, it’s been years, kid. Never, even. I wasn’t exactly the kind of guy that liked to shop all day. That’s your thing, princess.”

Rhys flashed Jack an awkward smile as the man draped an arm over his shoulder, keeping him held close to his side. 

Their ‘date’ was pretty much just walking around the town and going into whichever shops they were interested it. Jack claimed he wanted to spoil him a bit, seeing as Rhys was still trying to get used to having so much money to spend. It hadn’t even been half an hour and Rhys’ arms were already almost getting tired from holding his bags of goodies. At first, the things he got were practical. A couple bottles of wine for the end of their date, which was just going to be heading back to the apartment and having dinner. The next was an outfit for their dinner. It was a simple black button down shirt, similar to what he was already wearing, along with a nicer pair of pants. He made Jack wait outside for that purchase, wanting to surprise him when it came time to sit down and eat. 

Then...the purchases got a bit more silly.

“Pumpkin, you’ve already got three pistols, why the hell would you need another?”

“But look at this one, Jack! I don’t have a corrosive one yet.”

“If you buy that Maliwan gun, I’m demoting you and making you eat on the floor tonight.”

“Oh. I...ah...didn’t see...that...oops?”

In that same shop, however, Jack ended up purchasing something that Rhys didn’t see. He was too busy drooling over all of the huge swords on display to even care. That was...until Jack nudged him on their way out and lifted up his jacket to let Rhys see what was tucked into the waistband of his pants.

“I-Is that a...a whip?” Rhys felt his neck heat up, which he quickly tried to hide by lifting up the collar of his new jacket. But of course, Jack still saw it and flashed him a devious smirk before adjusting his jacket back into its original position. Leaning in, his lips brushed against Rhys’ ear, hovering there for a second before purring.

“Thought I could use it on you tonight.”

That was 5 minutes ago and Rhys was still trying to keep himself from blushing just from thinking about it. 

“Holy shit, that’s Handsome Jack.”

“In the flesh! Wasn’t he killed by vault hunters?”

“Maybe it was all just a trick?”

“Isn’t that the new president too? They look close.”

“Do you see the ass on him? I’d like to be that close to him t-nngh!”

Jack was gone from Rhys’ side in an instant. Panicked, Rhys ran after Jack as quick as he could, seeing the older man holding onto the stranger with a death grip around his throat. _Yelling at him to stop won’t do any good_ , he reminded himself. And despite wanting to yell and pull Jack away from the poor guy, he held himself back. Instead, he just walked up behind him and placed a hand over his shoulder.

“Stop.”

***

Rhys’ voice was soft, as was his touch on his shoulder.

But Jack’s eyes were filled with fury. His teeth grit together so hard he thought for a split second that they may break. The fucker had the nerve to bring up the fucking bandits. And then make a comment about what was his? Bastard was gonna pay for it.

“Jack.” Rhys was closer now, leaning in behind him to whisper into his ear. “You promised me you wouldn’t make a scene.” Jack had to screw his eyes shut to keep himself to groaning in frustration. He did promise the kid. And as much as he wanted to rip out the asshole’s tongue, he didn’t want to completely taint their...’first date’ either. So, he loosened his hold to grab onto the collar of his overpriced shirt with a low, chilling growl.

“If you ever dare...to say anything about my boy again, I will cut off every single finger of yours and make you choke on them. Got it?” The pathetic dickhead just nodded frantically before Jack reluctantly let him go. And before he could start going at the asshole again, he grabbed onto Rhys’ robotic wrist and pulled him far away from the group. “Should’ve killed ‘em all.” He hissed, angry eyes glued to the ground in front of him.

“’My boy’?” Was all the kid could say, with that goofy friggin’ grin on his face. “Yeah, my boy. Meaning if anyone even tries that shit again, they’re getting-”

“I get it, Jack, I get it. You’re the only one that can talk shit about me.”

“You’re damn right, cupcake.” Jack grumbled as he let go of Rhys’ wrist to throw his arm around his shoulders again, offering the flesh one a quick squeeze. “Me and buff dude, at least. Did I traumatize him too much? Gotta say, kid, he’s pretty fun to mess with.” He said with a snicker as the kid just glared at him.

“Aw, c’mon, kid. Lemme have a little fun with the little man.” Jack’s hand raised to ruffle up Rhys’ slicked back hair, making the younger man whine and try to bat the larger hand away. “I just fixed it after you did that last time!”

But Jack merely snickered and pulled Rhys up against his side while a cybernetic hand went up to blindly fix his auburn locks. Geez, the kid was friggin’ cute sometimes. Worrying about how his hair looks with that stupid little pout of his. A pout that the older man had grown quite fond of over just the past couple days. What the hell was up with him? He shows his feelings for the kid and now he’s friggin’ smitten. Well...both of them were, it seemed. There were a handful of times where he ended up catching the kid staring at him with the stupidest lovey-dovey look on his face. Jack knew he should be disgusted by the whole thing but in all honesty, he enjoyed it. Not like he’d ever admit it though.

***

“Alright, let’s go to the marketplace and grab shit for dinner. We’re not doing any takeout crap, you’re getting dinner made by the one and only Handsome Jack, got it?” 

Rhys couldn’t help the giddy feeling that bubbled up when Jack said that. Really, how many people are lucky enough to get dinner made by Handsome Jack? He didn’t even care what Jack was going to make, despite being a bit of a picky eater. Was Jack a good cook? Was he a shitty cook? Even if he was a shitty cook, it would be the thought that counts, right?

“I’m gonna grab some meat, heh, and, ah...how about you go get some vegetables or some shit and then we’ll meet back here. Just don’t get anything that’ll take a long time to cook. We gotta work out the blueprints for Helios tomorrow morning and I’d much rather spend the rest of the night whipping and fucking your ass raw. Okay, cupcake?” Rhys could only nod in response. He couldn’t help but break out into the stupid grin he always had on around Jack. It was all still so surreal. Dinner made by Handsome Jack and then a long night of sex with _the_ Handsome Jack. How in the world did Rhys get this lucky?

Then, they parted ways for the time being, Jack going off to find some sort of meat while Rhys walked around the marketplace to find some vegetables or something for the side. And it took all of his willpower not to buy everything he saw. He was still getting used to having a near unlimited amount of money to spend. It went from not wanting to buy anything to wanting to buy _everything_. Which always seemed to amuse Jack quite a bit. 

“How much for this?” And despite knowing he had all the money in the world, he still asked the question out of habit. He had stopped in front of one food cart run by an elderly woman. What she had out seemed to be tubs of mixed vegetables. That should be good enough...right?

“Well, it’s typically 10 dollars per tub but I could...cut the price in half for the cute president of Hyperion.” The woman gave Rhys a sweet smile as she pushed one of the tubs towards him in offering. “They’re all freshly made, I assure you. You can sample some if you’d like, dear. And if I may suggest...these are wonderful just as a side, but I always like to put them in a nice pot of skag stew. It’s a very hearty meal, which would be nice for such a skinny little thing like you.” A sense of familiarity washed over him, followed by a warm smile as he shook his head and reached into his pocket for his wallet. While he was counting out 50 dollars, he spoke up.

“I’ll take one, ma’am. You...remind me of my grandmother. She did this too, selling food at a market. What she didn’t sell, she would bring home and give me all of it, saying I needed to eat up and start looking less breakable.” A soft chuckle fell from his lips, taking a moment to relive the memories before setting the 50 dollars down on the cart. The generous act caught the woman off guard as she was putting the tub of vegetables into a bag. 

“No, no, no. I-I can’t possibly take that much money, dear. Please, the 10 is just fine. Even 5 is alright.” She looked unsure, hesitantly reaching over the cart to hand the bag over to Rhys. With his cybernetic hand, he took the bag. And with his other, he took the 50 dollars and set them into the woman’s palm with a gentle squeeze to her hand. “Please, take it. I know from experience that most of the people in the markets are trying to provide for family at home. Use this to take care of them, okay?”

The woman just nodded as a look of sadness formed on her face. “Yes...my daughter. She’s been sick for so long now...this will help get her the medicine she needs. Thank you, sweetheart. I owe you my life.”

“You don’t owe me anything. Have a good day, ma’am.” With one last parting smile, Rhys picked up the other bags he had set down by his feet and turned around. What came out of his mouth was the most embarrassingly high pitched sound that he could possibly make. Jack was just standing behind him, watching him with his arms crossed over his chest, a couple bags hanging from his thick fingers. But he said nothing. All he did was give Rhys the most genuine smile he had ever seen on that man, his free arm coming up to drape over the younger man’s shoulders and lead him out of the marketplace.

Jack really didn’t have to say anything though. Rhys saw the look in his eyes and it made his heart swell to the point where he swore it was going to burst out of his chest.

Jack was proud of him.

***

As the two left the area, one woman stood back behind a grill with skewered meats. She just watched, one part of her wanting to run after them. But another part of her wanted to stay hidden in the back like she was never even there. She couldn’t even process all of the emotions she felt at that moment. Joy, hurt, betrayal, anger, excitement...disgust. Just...the two of them together? Ew.

“Fiona! If you let those skewers burn, I’m taking all of your earnings from today. Snap out of it and get back to work.”


	10. First Date Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their shopping trip, Jack and Rhys return to the apartment for the more...interesting part of their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for how long it took to get this out. I'm so sorry for neglecting this fic, I promise I'll be more focused on it in the future <3
> 
> Now. Enjoy the filthy, shameless smut for now. Because the next chapter is pure angst. You have been warned. 
> 
> And this may be a bit rushed towards the end but that's because I desperately wanted to get this chapter out today and I knew I would just procrastinate later. 
> 
> Also, your comments always continue to give me such life, even if I don't reply to all of them. They mean so much to me and I always love getting your feedback <3

It was becoming clear to Rhys that Jack was pretty damn perfect. Y’know...if you set the psychotic, murderous tendencies aside.

When they had gotten back to their apartment, the first thing Jack did was head into the kitchen to start on dinner. And after putting the rest of their stuff away, Rhys just sat at the island and watched. There was something arousing about seeing Jack cooking. It seemed like something so domestic and...not at all like something Jack would ever do. But there he was, casually sautéing the mixed vegetables in a pan while also keeping an eye on the meat in another pan. The whole time, the two of them just chatted. And the older man was understandably curious about the story of Rhys’ grandmother.

“So, your grandmother...what was up with that?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, ah...my mother and I lived with my grandmother pretty much my whole life. My mother was an artist and that...didn’t really make much money. So, my grandmother would set up at the marketplace and sell her baked goods. She was the best baker I knew and everyone in our town loved her food, so she brought in the majority of the money. I’m, ah...kind of from...Eden-7.”

“Eden-7? Damn.” Jack let out a low whistle of approval. “My boy’s a lot more fancy than I thought.”

Rhys fought back the urge to grin at the ‘my boy’ comment again. “That’s why I never tell anyone. I’m not really fancy at all and our family wasn’t exactly rich. We just happened to live on mostly wealthy planet. Eden-7 has a lot of smaller, more poor towns if you look past the wealthy areas.”

They continued to talk all the way up until dinner was finally ready. Which brings Rhys back to the present time, loudly moaning at how good the food was and trying to figure out how Jack kept getting more perfect.

“I’m glad you like it and all but you should really save those moans for after dinner, kiddo.” Jack gave Rhys a suggestive wiggle of his brows, which nearly made the younger man choke on the piece of meat he had in his mouth. He mumbled out a half-assed apology before continuing on with the meal, finding it to be almost addicting. Even the fancy food Jack would order for them at the office didn’t taste _this_ good. Where the hell and why the hell was Jack hiding this skill? He only hoped that now, Jack will be cooking more in the future.

The two ate the rest of their dinner in silence, occasionally glancing over at one another and flashing little smiles or winks. And Rhys didn’t want it any other way. The lack of conversation made the dinner almost feel... _more_ intimate rather than less. But hell, anything done with Jack felt intimate. There was just a certain way Jack would look at him. The look was intense, to the point where Rhys often felt like his every movement was being judged. But then every so often, the man would just...smile at him. And all of a sudden, that intimidating stare seemed much less intimidating and more...a look of adoration. 

If Rhys could tell his younger self that Handsome Jack would one day look at him that way, he would probably burst out laughing or smack his future self for messing with him and ‘getting his hopes up’. Oh god, his inner fanboy was coming out again.

“You know, I think it’s time for dessert, pumpkin.” Rhys blinked out of his thoughts, a look of confusion crossing over his face. Suddenly, the leather whip was sliding along his exposed collarbone, gliding upwards under it was tucked under his chin, tilting his head all the way back until he was met with that intense gaze and Jack’s signature smirk. With an audible gulp, Rhys nodded slowly. He would usually feel embarrassed if he got hard so quick but...geez, Jack with a whip in his hand was one hell of a sight.

“Bedroom.” Jack used the whip to point to the entrance to the bedroom, to which Rhys scrambled to his feet and complied. Though, it didn’t seem to be fast enough. A loud crack from the whip rang through the air, causing Rhys to jump and look back at Jack with wide, startled eyes. “Faster.” The tone of Jack’s voice was dripping with impatience, threateningly raising the whip again before Rhys finally got the hint and scurried into the bedroom.

The only thing he could hear was Jack snickering behind him.

***

“You sure you know how to use that thing?”

“Now, Rhysie, I’m not gonna start bringing up exes and shit but trust me, I know how.”

Rhys had to brush off the bit of jealousy that came with Jack’s comment. He had known about Nisha. It was one of the first personal things Jack had ever told him, their relationship together. But that didn’t stop him from feeling that twinge of jealousy when he brought her up. 

“It’s in the past, kitten. No more pouting.” Wait, he was pouting? Ugh, just when he thought he was starting to hide this kind of stuff. “Comfortable?” Thankfully, Jack dropped the whole subject and brought Rhys back to what they were doing. Jack had actually made good use of their canopy bed and had tied Rhys’ wrists to the bar between the two bottom posts. The younger man gave an experimental tug to his binds, which was just one of his ties. It wasn’t loose, but it was tight enough that the fabric dug into the flesh. 

“Perfect.” He finally answered and glanced back over his shoulder in an attempt to see what Jack was doing now. But the man had gone completely out of view, the sneaky bastard. Rhys would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous at all. Yes, he trusted Jack. At least...more than he had before. But being helplessly bound was still slightly unnerving. He figured he could use the strength in his cybernetic arm to his advantage if he really needed to. That didn’t make him feel any less helpless though.

“Ah!” Rhys’ back arched as a ripple of pain spread throughout his body, slowly fading out into a dull ache across the backs of his thighs. Already, his legs were trembling and he only hopes that the bedframe would be able to hold his weight. “Asshole.” Was the whine that came after the initial shock, the only response being a soft snicker that he was barely able to pick up. 

A large hand was placed against his lower back before Jack leaned in to prop his head up on Rhys’ shoulder. “You ready? Just tell me to stop if it’s too much.”

“I’m more than ready.” The first lash of the whip gave Rhys a burst of adrenaline, one that he wants to feel over and over again. Not to mention, the dull ache was almost...oddly pleasurable.

And what followed next was lash after lash, cry after cry and ache after ache. 5 lashes in and he couldn’t even tell pain from pleasure anymore. It all just blended together in a perfect balance of pleasure-pain. And damn if his cock didn’t twitch each time Jack cooed that he was a ‘good boy’ and he was ‘taking it so well’. By the time they hit a total of 10 lashes, Rhys was an absolute mess. He wanted it to keep going, it felt so good. But he was also turned on to the point where he had to stop himself from begging Jack to fuck him. Maybe he could hold out just a little longer. It didn’t seem like Jack wanted to stop anytime soon either. Each lash got progressively harder, the tail of the whip biting into his skin until Rhys was sure it was breaking the flesh. 

“Still hanging on, princess?” There was a hint of amusement in the president’s voice, one that made Rhys roll his eyes and lean off to the side to rest against the bedpost beside him. “Not as fragile as you thought, huh?” Rhys had meant to sound smug and confident, but it just came out breathless and pathetic. Aside from jerking his hips and moaning, he hadn’t done anything. But he was still completely worn out as if he had just run a marathon. Yet he still wanted more.

“Just...more. Please.” He was even off his begging game. 

“I’unno, kiddo...” Jack actually sounded hesitant, which really surprised Rhys. A rough hand gingerly ran over one _extremely_ sensitive cheek, making Rhys bite down on his tongue to keep from practically yelling out. “You really sure you can take more? Don’t get me wrong, I friggin’ love how you squirm when the whip hits your ass but you’re lookin’ preeeetty beat up here.”

The touch of Jack’s hand alone made Rhys completely change his mind. He could take more of the pain, sure. But the business man in him said ‘fuck no’. He still had to sit around in the office all day tomorrow and work on the blueprints for the new Helios. Oh god, he was already starting to regret doing this tonight. But now? He was too horny and desperate to really care. Picking his head up from the bed post, he awkwardly glanced back over his shoulder with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster up. 

Psht, as if he even needed to use them.

“Just fuck me already...ah!” Rhys’ back arched as a cry tore from his throat, the tail of the whip suddenly biting into a particularly sensitive area on his ass. He was about to yell at Jack for doing that until the older man spoke up before he got the chance. “Ordering me around when I’m the one with a whip in my hand isn’t a smart idea, is it, Rhysie?” Rhys grumbled under his breath but decided to ultimately shut up before he ended up getting himself whipped again. 

Despite the slight punishment, his ‘demand’ did make Jack drop the whip and step up behind him. But he was still careful about touching Rhys’ sensitive skin. Large hands came up to undo the tie from around his wrists, tossing the fabric aside before Rhys was roughly shoved face first onto the bed. A loud groan spilled from his lips, but it came out as more of a whine. And before he was able to pick himself up or even try to get comfortable, the large hand from before came down to tangle into his hair and press the side of his face into the mattress. From behind him, he could hear the sound of Jack undoing his belt and fuck, that had to be one of his favorite sounds. And before he knew it, he felt the tip of Jack’s cock pressing between his cheeks.

To say he panicked was an understatement.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no, Jack, d-don’t do-” He was cut off but a surprisingly gentle stroke to his hair, making his brows furrow in utter confusion.

“Pumpkin, do you not remember me completely stretching your ass this morning? You’re naturally tight, kid, even with all the shit I do to it which is surprising. But there’s no way this is gonna hurt as bad as you think it will.” Despite Jack’s, ah...attempts at comforting him, Rhys was still extremely skeptical. His body was completely tense under Jack’s touch and the man above him seemed to notice it, sighing out loudly. “Look, just...let’s try. Okay? You know to tell me to stop if you really need me to. I’ll listen to ya, okay?” Now, that was a bit more comforting. It wasn’t just his words, it was the way he said them. Genuine, like he really did care. And Rhys knew he did care.

So, Rhys only offered a small nod for Jack to keep going forward. Jack, uh...really meant it when he said he was gonna fuck his ass raw, didn’t he? How in the world was he going to go into the office tomorrow? He was already almost positive that he would have to stand around most of the day. Or sit with an ice pack under his ass all day. Or even-

“Fuck!” Rhys hissed out loudly as Jack finally began to press into him. He was slow and careful, going in inch by inch until Rhys’ eyes began to water. It stung. _A lot_. That one word to end it all was on the tip of his tongue the whole time Jack stretched him out, who - judging by his unabashed groans - seemed to be enjoying himself. The word was right there but...it never came. Yeah, it hurt like a bitch and Rhys knew he would regret it later. But at the same time, nothing could ever beat the feeling of Jack inside of him. He wasn’t exactly addicted to the feeling but it was just...almost euphoric. 

“You okay?” The words were whispered into his ear, a calloused thumb reaching out to brush against his exposed cheek and smearing...something in the process. Was he actually crying? Damnit. 

“I’m...I’m fine. Actually. Sorry.” Rhys didn’t know what he was really apologizing for. Crying? Making Jack worry? And he knew Jack was actually worried, just by the sound of his voice. Well, he wouldn’t say worried. More just...slight concern. But still. Jack ended up just chuckling lowly and pushing himself up so his weight was off of the skinnier man. Strong hands gripped at his hips, fingertips pressing against the bruises created that morning. Rhys was sure he had bruises everywhere at this point, he didn’t even care to hide it. He loved it.

Rhys didn’t realize Jack had stopped moving until he started slowly pulling out, still trying to be careful with him. It continued like that for a few minutes, slow thrusts in and out while they both waited for the pain and discomfort to subside. And it certainly didn’t take long for the pleasure to start to build. Oh yes, the pain was still there. But that’s just what added to the pleasure. He might as well have ‘MASOCHIST’ stamped onto his forehead, it was getting to be that obvious. 

Wordlessly, Rhys pressed his hips back into Jack’s. Or...as much as he could with the strong hold on his hips. And that seemed to be all of the encouragement Jack needed. And god, his growls were pure sex just as is. Granted, he was sure almost everything about him was pure sex. It seemed like all he had to do was give Rhys one simple look and he would be putty in his hands. 

The hands on his hips began to somehow grip onto him tighter than they already were, now leaving him completely unable to move them. But that didn’t seem to bother Jack one bit. No, he used it to his advantage, tugging Rhys’ hips back at whatever pace he wanted. Already, he was almost overwhelmed. Between the jolt of pain that ran up his spine each time Rhys’ cheeks connected with Jack’s hips and the pleasure of both Jack sliding in and out of him at a swift pace and his cock rubbing against the bunched up sheets beneath him...he was practically seeing stars. He would normally be embarrassed with how he was moaning like a whore but even trying to think about the concept of shame was impossible. And fuck, the things Jack growled into his ear didn’t help at all.

“Love it when you moan like that. I knew from the first time we fucked that you would be fun in bed. Can’t handle that fragile vanilla shit, y’know? I dole out pain on a day to day basis, that ain’t gonna stop in the bedroom.” As if to make his point, Rhys received a particularly hard thrust that nearly made his eyes roll back into his head. Jack was getting threateningly close to his prostate and Rhys knew that the minute he hit it, he would be sent over the edge. “Then you come around and end up being the best damn fuck I’ve ever had. I particularly like the noises you make...” Suddenly, one hand is moving from his hip, gliding all the way up his back and pausing at his nape. It doesn’t stay there for long before it snakes around and latches on, gripping onto his throat in a vice. In response, Rhys shudders out a shameless moan. “...when my hand is wrapped around your throat. Just like that, good boy. Keep moaning for me.” Then, his voice got dangerously low, dropping to the tone that would typically chill Rhys to the bone in any other situation. “Fucking _slut_.”

God, he was in heaven. But he was also oh so overwhelmed. He couldn’t even wait for Jack to allow him to touch himself or not. He needed _something_. And to his surprise, Jack let him. Which only meant that he was just as close as Rhys was. And that showed in his almost violent thrusts, hips painfully slapping against his sore ass at a frightening speed. Once Rhys got a hand around his leaking erection, the hand around his throat tightened. Skilled fingers adjusted to perfectly press down onto his windpipe, allowing him to take in just the smallest of breaths. The voice at his ear returned, now strained and laced with desperation.

“You gonna be a good boy and cum for daddy, kitten? Huh? Come on, cum for daddy. _Now_.” And the fingers pressed harder, completely restricting his ability to breathe. That combined with Jack’s voice and the sudden abuse to his prostate was all Rhys needed to be sent over the edge. Thick white spurts coated the sheets beneath him, chapped lips parting but only letting out a choked out sound. The tears that had been collecting in his eyes over just the pass couple minutes finally spilled over, streaming down his flushed cheeks. His hips jerked erratically, thrusting up into his trembling hand while also pressing back into Jack firmly, seemingly uncaring about the intense pain that brings. 

An uttered swear was all he heard before blunt nails dug into his hip to the point where he was sure they were breaking the skin. The groans that came from Jack’s lips as he spilled into him were like music to his ears. Well...they would have been if he could hear anything over his racing heart pounding in his ears. Jack’s hand was still locked firmly around his throat, refusing to let up. But even as the dark spots danced in his vision and the edges began to grow black, he accepted it. No, he didn’t fight or try to tell Jack to stop, he really couldn’t anyway. His body was already weak and limp against the bed and there was no way he could get even a single word out.

Before Rhys knew it, unconsciousness greeted him. He wasn’t sure how long he was out, seconds or maybe a minute or more. But when he came to, he was curled up on his side, head resting in Jack’s lap as the older man dragged his fingers through Rhys’ completely messed up hair. After everything that had happened, the tender touch made him feel like he was on cloud nine. Couldn’t they stay like this forever?

The pain from the marks on his ass told him otherwise.

“Mmph.” Was all he was able to get out as he awkwardly tried to roll over onto his stomach, but Jack stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, take it easy, kitten. How about you get yourself comfortable, okay? I’m gonna go get a towel and some cream to help the wounds. And...Rhys?” Rhys blinked in response to his name. Jack never called him by his name unless he was serious. He lifted his head just enough to look up at Jack, brows furrowed in confusion.

“Don’t you dare scare me like that again.”

***

Only a few minutes passed before Jack had come back and started to clean Rhys up. He had tried to apologize for apparently scaring him but he just shut him up with a simple ‘no’. But he still felt bad. Scaring Handsome Jack wasn’t an easy thing to do. So, knowing that just being unconscious for a couple minutes totally scared him made Rhys feel both shitty and...special, in a way. But mostly shitty.

Jack’s touch was as ginger as possible as he wiped the damp towel along his skin to clean up any dry or fresh blood that covered his skin. It still hurt like a bitch but Rhys kept his sounds of pain to himself. Eventually, he found himself slowly sinking into the mattress, eyelids growing too heavy to keep them open anymore. The exhaustion hit quick and hard, leaving him on the verge of totally passing out before a familiar strong hand came up to rest on the back of his head.

“C’mon.” Was all Jack said as he tucked his hands beneath Rhys’ arms, helping the exhausted man to push himself up towards the top of the bed. Once there, his face buried into the fluffed up pillows, letting out a loud groan of approval. Had the bed always felt this good? 

After carefully applying some sort of cream to the wounded areas, Jack just set everything aside and joined Rhys’ side. Fingertips danced over his back, the touch so featherlight that Rhys wondered if it was even there. Then, Jack’s head joined his beside the pillow, causing Rhys to peek one eye open and steal a glance at the man beside him. Jack was just watching him. The concern and slight anger on his face from earlier was long gone. Now, it was replaced by something kinder. Adoration? Content?

Love.

Yeah...just love. 

And that’s when Rhys finally allowed himself to fall asleep. With a familiar flutter in his chest and that stupid smile he always had on around Jack.

Yeah...that was love too.


	11. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day in the office was a lot more emotional than either of them would have expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I promised in the last chapter, this is pure angst. It's become clear to me that all I write is angst when I'm half asleep, so that's a thing. 
> 
> And I wanted to take a second to thank you all so much for all of the comments throughout this whole story. This was my very first Rhack story that I was absolutely addicted to writing at first. I still partially am, I still really love writing this and seeing the reactions from all of you guys. Thank you for continuously coming back to this train wreck of a story <3
> 
> My Tumblr ~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~ (if you guys come to my Tumblr, feel free to stop by and say hi! I love getting to know you all <3)
> 
> NOW ONTO THE ANGST

“Helios 2.0?”

“New Helios?”

“Does it even need to be Helios? Like, it could be whatever the hell we want it to be, kid.”

“It could...just be Helios? It’s not like we have to make it sound brand new.” Rhys uncomfortably shifted in his chair, eyes trained on the paper in front of him. While Jack put himself in charge of the blueprints for the base of Helios, Rhys put himself in charge of sketching out their office. The trash bin beside their desk was already almost full of crumpled up paper and they had only been in the office for two hours. Rhys was picky though. And a bit of a perfectionist, honestly. Especially when it came to stuff like this.

Across from him, Jack sighed loudly and leaned back in his chair with a shrug. “I guess. Just doesn’t sound as cool, ya know?” He suddenly leaned over the desk, eyeing the paper under Rhys’ hands. One hand extended, a thick finger tapping the rough outline of the desk he had just sketched out. “How about split the desk in half? Not like, literally, but have one computer on the right, one on the left, one chair on the right, one on the left, like that. And before you suggest, both chairs will be yellow and you have absolutely no say in that.” Rhys just rolled his eyes and bat away Jack’s intrusive finger. “Stop distracting me.”

“Your sketches are good though, pumpkin. Got a lotta skill there.” To his surprise, Jack actually listened to him and settled back into his chair. 

“Yeah, got it from my mom.” The words left his lips before he could even think about them. Shit, he shouldn’t have said that. He never liked talking about her and he knew how persistent Jack can get. 

“Mm? She’s an artist, right?”

“ _Was_. She...was...an artist.”

Rhys hoped the bite in his voice would shut Jack up for now. And it actually worked. He quickly glanced up from his work to see Jack just nod and take the blueprint back into his hands to look it over. He should be happy that he didn’t press on. But after not talking about her for so long, years even...he found himself almost wanting to. And he also found himself wanting to deepen their relationship. The only person he would ever talk about his mother with was Vaughn. And talking about her with Jack just felt...right.

“She was an artist.” He repeated, catching Jack’s attention again in the process. “That was always her job, for as long as I could remember. She would either sell it or do commissions. That was all she did until I was 10. Then she got interested in tattoos. Never trusted anyone enough to tattoo her though. So...she taught herself. The first thing she tattooed on herself was...an R. On her ring finger.” Rhys found himself unconsciously sketching out said ‘R’ on the paper, an almost bitter smile forming on his lips. “My dad left her when she was still pregnant with me. It was always just the two of us, plus my grandmother until she passed away when I was 17. We were best friends. Up until the very end.”

The next thing he knew, Jack was in front of him, pushing his papers aside to sit down on top of the desk. Large hands took his own. The touch was...surprisingly gentle. Rhys wanted to look up at him but he knew he would just burst out crying if he did. So he settled for leaning forward, letting his head rest comfortably over Jack’s lap. “I was 21. It was only a week after my birthday and she came home after...what I thought was work. Something was off and I tried to ask her about it but she just...didn’t say anything. She just asked to give me another tattoo. The first one she gave me was the one on my neck when I was like...16. And when she said ‘a tattoo’, I thought she meant _a_ tattoo. Not all of this.” With a soft chuckle, Rhys gestured to his body, thought the blue ink was completely hidden beneath his clothing. “I didn’t know why it was so important that she did that. But we spent all night with her just tattooing me. The last conversation we had, she was scolding me for being so careless with the first tattoo and telling me to take better care of this one. 

“I woke up and she was just...gone. I thought she just went to work early but the hours went by and she never came back. Days...days went by and she never came back. It wasn’t until a week later that I got a package in the mail.” His voice was strained at this point, trying desperately to keep his emotions at bay. Fuck, this is why he never talked about her. He just couldn’t handle it. “It...it was her finger. Her _fucking_ finger, Jack...with the R. It fucking killed me. I broke down right there and just cried. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore, I cried until I could barely get a breath out without heaving. I had never...felt pain like that before. Everything hurt but at the same time, none of it felt real. For about a year, I kept waking up every day thinking everything was just a dream.

“Then...I found her note. I was going through her room and found a note right there on her desk. I had no idea how I missed it. She explained everything. On my birthday, I had gotten stupidly drunk and punched some dude in the face. I barely remember it but I do remember that the guy didn’t really do anything. He was pissed, of course. He was going to go after me but he stopped when my mom started to drag me off. Apparently...he was a fucking bandit that didn’t like to fuck around. He had came to my mom’s studio and gave her two options. Pay this huge sum of money that there was no way we could get or...I die. She knew we couldn’t come up with the money. So...she did the next thing that seemed logical to her. She offered herself instead. Her death instead of mine. That...sick son of a bitch loved the idea. He fucking loved knowing I would end up suffering. And that tattoo...the tattoos...she gave them as something to remember her by. 

“I felt so guilty...” The words were whispered out now, Rhys not trusting his voice at all anymore. Tears had already started to collect in his eyes, just threatening to spill over. “She died...because of something stupid I did when I was drunk. She always had my back and I...I-I just...” Rhys shook his head frantically, tears finally falling and beginning to stream down his cheeks. Meanwhile, Jack let go of his hands and placed them under his arms to tug him up into a standing position. But he didn’t let go. He just loosely wrapped his arms around the skinnier man and held him. That was what sent Rhys completely over the edge. He fit himself between Jack’s thighs and none too gracefully flung his arms around him, head buried into his neck as sobs began to wrack his body. It had been so long since he last broke down like this. What happened to his mother haunted him constantly. It...felt good. To finally let everything out again.

They held each other for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was maybe just a few minutes. Jack’s hands stroking his upper back was what eventually made him start to calm down. The two of them didn’t say a single word to each other. Rhys didn’t trust his voice anymore and he assumed Jack either didn’t know what to say or didn’t want to make him break down again. Soon, Rhys was practically limp against Jack’s body, just letting him hold him and run his hands over his back. 

“Thank you.” Rhys finally mumbled into Jack’s neck. In response, he received a firm kiss to the top of his head before being pushed upright. It took a moment for him to find his balance again but once settled in place, he gave Jack a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I, uh...never really talk about her. It was nice to just let go again.”

“You good, kiddo?” Was all Jack asked as his hands came up to take his hips, thumbs brushing over the waistband of his pants. He was starting to realize that that was Jack’s way of comforting. It made sense, considering he wasn’t exactly great with words.

“Yeah.” Rhys sniffled, his flesh hand coming up to wipe at his cheeks and beneath his eyes. "I'm good. Thank you for letting me get all of that out."

Jack was about to reply before they both heard a knock at the double doors, turning their heads towards the sound almost in unison. Shortly after the knock, their PA - who Jack finally realized was Jill and not Jane - Jill peeked her head in hesitantly.

“S-Sirs? There...there’s someone here for President Rhys. She says she’s a...a v-vault hunter?” Jill looked almost terrified to say those two words. Meanwhile, Jack immediately lit up like a Christmas tree, cackling and clapping his hands together as if that was the best thing he had heard all week.

“Hell yes, bring her in! It’s about time we get to do some killing, huh, pumpkin?” The maniacal grin on Jack’s face was unnerving to say the least. And Rhys hesitated. She? The only female vault hunter he knew personally was Athena, but what the hell would she be doing looking for him? Unless...Zer0 was a woman and he didn’t know it? Other than those two, he was positive he had never met any other vault hunters. 

But before he knew it, Jack was already moving back around the desk to grab his pistol and tuck it into the holster against his thigh. “I-I don’t know. Let’s just...hear them out first? Please?” Rhys gave him those puppy dog eyes he knew the older man couldn’t resist. Jack’s heterochromatic eyes narrowed in an instant, mouth opening and closing more than once, clearly struggling to form some sort of response. Eventually, he just groans and waves his hands at Rhys in defeat. “Fine.”

“Good. Because we don’t know who it even...Fiona?!”

“Hat chick?”

Both men stared at the doorway in utter confusion, Jack’s eyes widened slightly while Rhys’ jaw just hung open, unable to process what in the hell he was seeing. That was...Fiona. For damn sure. Watching them with her arms crossed over her chest and looking...oh fuck, she was pissed. Oh, that’s not good. Not good at all. 

“You knew what was gonna happen, didn’t you?” Shit, that was a rage Rhys had never seen before. “You knew I would be teleported to fuck knows where once I got inside the vault. That’s why you didn’t go in with me. You fucking knew, you selfish Hyperion prick!” 

“F-Fi, I can explain. I can! J-J-Just hear me out, please don’t be-” Rhys had barely registered the fact that Fiona was coming towards him before a hard smack landed across his cheek, hard enough to make him stumble back into the desk with one hand clutching his throbbing cheek. He stared at her incredulously, flinching back as she made a move to slap him again before a blur of leather went by. Before he knew it, he was watching Jack pin Fiona down on the floor. His knee was pressed down directly over her throat, her hands pinned over her head with one large hand. The look of pure wrath on Jack’s face was enough to make Rhys want to bolt and run out on its own. The almost animalistic snarling didn’t help at all either.

But as much as Fiona had just completely pissed him off, there was no way he could let Jack kill her. They’re all still a team no matter what. And he wasn’t about to tell Sasha that Jack killed her sister while Rhys did nothing about it. She would never forgive him. Hell, Vaughn wouldn’t even forgive him. 

Snapping out of his state of shock, Rhys then found himself in a state of panic as he rushed over to grab Jack’s shoulders in an attempt to pry him off of Fiona. Holy shit, this guy was strong. “Jack. Jack, fucking stop it.”

“Yeah, get the fuck off of me.” Her voice was strained, the weight of Jack’s knee clearly pressing down on her windpipe. And yet, all that came out of her mouth was anger and sass. Yep, it was definitely Fiona. 

“It isn’t smart to just let this shit slide. You know what happens if you do? Everyone thinks they can just walk all over you. You gotta deal with this shit right away.” And with that, Jack was reaching for his gun. In his panic, Rhys did the only thing he could think of at this point. 

He pointed his own pistol at Jack, flicking the safety off with one fluid movement to let him know he was serious. “Let her go, Jack. She’s part of our team whether you like it or not, whether _she_ likes it or not. I’m not sending her back to Sasha in a body bag.” His voice was surprisingly unwavering. Pretty sure that’s the first time he ever faked his confidence that well. Because inside? He was fucking terrified. 

Once Jack turned back to look at him, all of that fake confidence disappeared. Usually when Jack was this pissed, looking at Rhys would calm him down in some way. But now, the wrath on the other man’s face just seemed to get worse. Soon, he was pushing himself off Fiona, who let out a loud gasp as she tried to gulp at the air. Instead, Jack stalked towards Rhys, who had begun to back himself into the desk and press into the edge. Fuck, that hurt his ass. When Jack stopped right in front of him, he felt like he was going to piss his pants. Though Rhys was slightly taller than him, the man was intimidating enough that he might as well be completely towering over him.

“Are you...pointing a gun at me?” The words were spoken - more like growled - through gritted teeth. It was then that Rhys noticed Jack had pressed his chest right into the barrel of his gun. No, it was too late to give up his confidence act. And he needed to do whatever it took to make sure Fiona walked out in one piece.

“I...I can’t let you kill her, Jack. She saved my ass when she didn’t have to. Both you and I are here today because of that. Y-Yeah, she hit me. But after everything that happened, she has every right to.” His voice then dropped lower, wanting the next part to be for Jack’s ears and his only. “If she still doesn’t cooperate by the end of this, you can...do what you want.” It was mostly a lie. However, if Fiona actually did start getting too violent...they would have no choice but to defend themselves.

Jack’s glare burned into his skin, to the point where Rhys couldn’t even look him in the eyes anymore. Granted, he was barely even able to to begin with. The man was _scary_ when he was pissed.

“ _Fine_.” Jack finally hissed out and made his way back around the desk to sit back in his chair. Then, as if nothing had ever happened the past ten minutes, he was just looking over the blueprints again, waving a dismissive hand at Rhys. The slightly trembling man took that as a sign to continue on with Fiona and hesitantly tucked his pistol back into its holster. 

“Here.” Rhys extended his cybernetic hand out to Fiona, who was still on the ground trying to catch her breath. He could see the conflict in her eyes. It wasn’t the first time he had seen it. It was the same look she gave Vallory when she offered to help her up. Was he just comparing himself to Vallory, of all people? Geez, he sure thought highly of himself.

Fiona just muttered out a ‘thanks’ and eventually took his hand, allowing him to help her back up onto her feet. But as soon as she was steady, her hand tugged out of his, crossing over her chest instead. “Mind explaining yourself, Rhys?”

“I...It’s a long story, Fi. But long story short, I just...wanted to take over Hyperion. No, I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen once you got into the vault, I swear on my life. I just knew that it could either be really good or really bad. And I didn’t want to take the chance. Plus, I knew you really...and I mean _really_ wanted to be a vault hunter. I didn’t want to deny you of that glory.” Okay, the last part may not have been entirely true but hey, whatever would keep him from getting slapped again. Or worse. 

“Mind explaining this...grossness?” Fiona waved a hand towards both men, a disgusted look on her face. From behind him, Jack’s eyebrows arched up high in an ‘excuse me?’ look. Meanwhile, Rhys was already blushing deep red. Hell, even he really didn’t know how to explain it. “It kind of just...happened? I don’t really have a better explanation than that. He just...we just...I...I dunno.” Rhys admitted sheepishly, his human hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. How in the world could he explain his and Jack’s relationship? It happened so suddenly and randomly, there was no way he could even begin to explain it. “A-Anyway...how did you get here? What _did_ happen when you got inside the vault?”

Fiona just shrugged, kneeling down to pick up her hat from the floor and brushing it off with her free hand. “Vault of the Traveller. Teleported all over the universe. Guess it went out with a bang and teleported me here.”

“Isn’t it funny how after all this time searching for you, we end up finding you here of all places?...N-Not funny, no?” There was an odd look on her face. She looked almost...surprised. What had he said?

“You guys were...searching for me?” Rhys’ brows furrowed at that, now totally confused. “Why wouldn’t we search for you? Fiona, Sash has been actually _depressed_ without you there. We need to find a way to get you back on Pandora. Jack, we can make that happen, right?” Rhys glanced back at the man over his shoulder, mismatched eyes narrowing when he was just met with a shrug. 

“What, nothing to say?” Jack glanced up at him from the blueprints, not a single hint of emotion in his eyes. That was...slightly worrying. Okay, more than slightly. But he just went back to work anyway, not speaking a word to either of them.

Well, guess it’s time to get into CEO mode. Rhys usually let Jack handle all of the decisions because he was so used to it and Rhys, well...wasn’t. But now that Jack was giving him the silent treatment, he had no choice. “Well...I...think we can get you there the same way we got here. It may take a bit, a week or two maybe. I’m sure I could send someone with you too, to make sure you get there alright.”

“It’s Pandora, Rhys. I can handle it just fine on my own.” Ah, he somehow missed her stubbornness. Sort of. 

***

Rhys and Fiona parted shortly after brainstorming how to get her back to the rest of the team. Rhys also asked her to come in again tomorrow so he could let her talk to Sasha and everyone else. By the time they were done talking, they seemed almost back to normal. She was still annoyed with him, but that was to be expected. And he’s pretty sure she was always annoyed with him anyway. But she did offer a half-apology for slapping him, to which Jack let out a scoff of disbelief.

Yeah, now was the time to deal with _him_

“Okay, what the hell is your issue? I’ve been a CEO for less than a week, I had no idea what the hell I was saying back there. Why couldn’t you help me just a little bit?” Rhys crossed his arms over his chest, a deep frown forming on his lips.

“You pointed a gun at me.” Was all Jack hissed out as he shot up from his chair, stalking towards Rhys in only a couple long strides. A strong hand was wrapped around his neck in an instant. The grip wasn’t tight enough to hinder his breathing in any way. Just tight enough to let him know that it was a _threat_. He didn’t know what to do, so his hands just came up to clutch onto Jack’s hairy forearm. There was an undeniable anger in his eyes but...there was also something else that he couldn’t make out. 

“You were going to kill my friend.” Rhys explained as calmly as he could. He wasn’t gonna let Jack get to him. No matter how scared he was on the inside. Jack had said more than a few times how he hated truly hurting Rhys. So, he knew it was more likely he wouldn’t be strangled to death but...the threat was still there and Jack made sure of it.

“Your _friend_?” He was suddenly cackling again, grip tightening ever so slightly in the process. “She friggin’ slapped you the moment she walked through the door! And she was gonna do it again before I got my hands on her.”

“She was pissed, Jack. She had every right to be. I’d be pissed if I were in her shoes too, I’d slap me too if I were her.”

“You know what I hate the most, kid? The fact that I let you get away with pointing a gun at me.”

For a second, Rhys was afraid that that there would be a ‘and I won’t’. But it never came. Jack just kept laughing and looking at Rhys like he was the strangest thing in the world. “I talk shit about having to make sure you deal with that kind of shit right away. That includes having a gun pointed at you. If I followed my own damn rules, you would be laying on the ground in a pool of your own blood and guts.”

Rhys swallowed thickly, fingers twitching against Jack’s skin as his hands began to shake. Jack wouldn’t kill him...right? They’ve been through so much together, gotten so much closer...right? Fuck, his eyes were beginning to sting. He couldn’t hide it anymore, he was fucking scared. A part of him begged him to trust Jack, but the other part begged him to remind himself that this is _Handsome Jack_. The murderous, unpredictable man that somewhat aided in the death of his own daughter. 

The shaky whimper that left his lips seemed to break Jack out of...whatever weird state he was in. His gaze flickered from the tears welling up in his eyes, to the hand around Rhys’ inked neck and then back. The older man just gave a shake of his head and let Rhys go, but only for a moment. Those strong hands soon came up to cup Rhys’ face in his palms, thumbs gingerly swiping beneath his eyes. 

“No, no, I’m not...I’m not gonna kill ya, kitten. Far from it, actually. I’m just trying to say that...I just...shit, you know I’m terrible with words, kid.” Jack let out a heavy sigh and leaned forward, his forehead pressing right against Rhys’. Meanwhile, Rhys had started to calm down as soon as he felt Jack’s gentle touch against his cheeks. There was still a bit of fear trying to eat away at him, but it was quickly pushed back for the time being. 

“I’m _trying_ to say that I just can’t kill you. If you were anyone else, if anyone else had pointed a damn gun at me, they would be dead in an instant. But you’re... _fuck_ you’re just _you_. I...I dunno, I guess it’s just ‘cause I l...I...” Jack let out a frustrated groan and closed that small distance between them, pressing his body up against Rhys’ at the same time as he presses their lips together. The kiss was hard, rough, teeth and all. But fuck, Rhys didn’t care. He just wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck to hold him close, fighting back the urge to grin against his masked lips. 

It wasn’t a real confession and Rhys knew it. But it was probably the closest he would ever get to one. Jack just poured all of his feelings into the kiss. This seemed to happen often with the two of them. Where no words were needed to know exactly what Jack was trying to say.

_I love you._


End file.
